WARNING: Details in this story may be considered graphic to some. Viewer discretion is advised.
The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office has revealed the cause of death for a nonverbal 12-year-old found dead in a lagoon Tuesday morning.
According to Coroner Dwight McKenna, Bryan Vasquez’s cause of death was ruled blunt force trauma from alligators and drowning.
NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said she has asked the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to eradicate nuisance alligators in the lagoon where Vasquez died.
Alligator hunters are expected to respond to the lagoon.
Kirkpatrick said that the investigation into Vasquez death is not over, and that she encourages the community to keep providing information regarding the investigation.
Vasquez went missing Aug. 14 after he left through the window of his bedroom at 5 a.m.
A nearly two-week search ended after volunteers found his body in a lagoon.
The investigation has now switched from a missing person to an unclassified death investigation.
Vasquez’s parents were issued a search warrant by the New Orleans Police Department, according to a family spokesperson.
The spokesperson provided WDSU images of what appeared to be a search warrant for the phones of Bryan Vasquez’s parents.
According to a statement from the New Orleans Police Department, a search warrant was issued for information from the parents’ phones for evidence collection.
The NOPD has not issued an arrest warrant for Vasquez’s parents or any other family member.
According to the NOPD, it is standard procedure in any investigation to request evidence through a search warrant, like phones, but this does not necessarily mean there was any nefarious action.
Now that this is no longer a missing person case, rather, an unclassified death, NOPD will be exploring all aspects of the investigation.
NOPD also confirmed that the Department of Children and Family Services has opened its own investigation.
NOPD is providing support to DCFS, but clarified that NOPD has at no point threatened to take the other two children from the Vasquez family.
WDSU has reached out to DCFS for more information on its role in the investigation. DCFS said it is unable to provide information into their investigation.
READ MORE:WARNING: GRAPHIC: Cause of death revealed for missing 12-year-old nonverbal boy
