ST. PETERSBURG, FL– The St. Petersburg Police office is reporting that the body of a missing two-year-old boy was discovered in the mouth of an alligator.
Officials began searching for the toddler after they discovered the child’s mother, 20-year-old Pashun Jeffery, dead inside of an apartment earlier in the week.
On Friday, officials say they were searching for the child in an area several miles from the apartment when they noticed an alligator with something in its mouth.
Authorities then realized the alligators was holding the missing child’s body.

“The detectives had been there all afternoon and while they were there they spotted an alligator with an object in his mouth,” Chief Anthony Holloway said during a news conference on Friday. “As the detective got closer, they fired one round to the alligator. The alligator dropped the object that he had in his mouth and we were able to retrieve Taylen’s body intact.”
It is unclear if the alligator was involved in the child’s death.
Authorities have arrested the boy’s father, 21-year-old Thomas Mosley on Wednesday after he was released from the hospital.

According to report, he checked himself into the hospital for minor cuts and scrapes on his hands that same day. Neighbor’s reported that it was also the last time they saw the mother and child alive.

Mosley has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.