NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The family of Bryan Vasquez finally received answers Tuesday, after the United Cajun Navy located the 12-year-old’s body in a lagoon in New Orleans East.
It had been nearly two weeks since Vasquez, who was non-verbal and had autism, wandered away from his home.
“I’ve never seen anything like that, and I hope to never see anything like that again,” said United Cajun Navy drone pilot Jon Gusanders.
Gusanders says when he found Vasquez’s body, it was surrounded by two alligators.
“Each time I would leave Bryan to replace a battery, they would return. They were attempting to push him and hide him,” said Gusanders.
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For nearly an hour, Gusanders and other law enforcement agencies maneuvered drones around the alligators.
By the time a New Orleans police boat was able to recover Vasquez’s body, the alligators were gone.
Gusanders says it was an overwhelming moment.
“His final resting place was peaceful, as I mentioned before. He was in a peaceful position. He was on his side. He was lying in a bed of lilies,” said Gusanders.
United Cajun Navy volunteer Kaysee Seymour, who also has a child with autism, says bringing closure to Vasquez’s mother was a must.
“We communicated with our actions, that we showed up every day. We continue to show up every day and we aren’t going to give up. And everybody, everybody in that community knew it. She knew she knew that we weren’t giving up,” said Seymour.
The Vazquez family spokesperson, Cristiane Rosales-Fajardo, says their community is forever thankful to the United Cajun Navy for helping bring the 12-year-old home.
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“To help us, who never gave up on us. And that mission was completed, that we have him, we have parts of him that we can go ahead and give a goodbye to, ” said Rosales-Fajardo.
Gusanders is now calling on wildlife and fisheries to remove alligators from the lagoon where he found Vasquez’s body.
He wants to ensure that what happened to Vasquez does not happen to another child.
“Although a great first step. We all need to ensure that this is a focus for the wildlife and fisheries. To ensure that there are not gators continuously entering this water,” said Gusanders.
The United Cajun Navy says they are working with the community to put up signs in both English and Spanish to remind people not to feed the alligators.
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