ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- The urgent search for a missing child, subject of an Amber Alert, has come to a tragic and horrific end.
Police chief Anthony Holloway says that around 7:00 Friday evening, officers at Dell Holmes Park on Lake Maggiore, spotted an alligator with an object in its mouth. They discovered after firing on the gator that it was the body of missing two-year-old Taylen Mosley. The discovery ended an extensive search that included several agencies.
"We are sorry that it had to end this way", Holloway said. He added that the child's father, 21-year-old Thomas Mosley, has been charged with first-degree murder in Taylen's death, as well as the death of the child's mother, Pashun Jeffery. Holloway says the 20-year-old woman was stabbed "multiple" times in her apartment on 4th Street North, at the opposite end of town from the spot where the child's remains were found.
Holloway says the child's cause of death cannot be determined before the medical examiner's report.
Police had been looking for Taylen since Thursday afternoon, when they discovered Jeffery's body at the apartment. The toddler's father had been in the hospital since Wednesday, when he showed up with cuts on his arms and hands. Neighbors had reported noise coming from the apartment Wednesday evening.
Holloway says the plan for volunteers to search tomorrow morning has been cancelled.
Watch coverage of the chief's news conference at the link below.
Photo: Getty Images