Trending

UPDATE: Body found during search for teen in Orange County pond, officials say

ORLANDO, Fla. — Update 9:30 a.m. EDT May 10: A body was found Thursday as crews searched an Orange County retention pond after someone called 911 to report a teenager's possible drowning.

Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit discovered the body at about 7:30 a.m.

Homicide detectives and CSI are on the way to the scene.

TRENDING NOW:

Authorities have neither identified the body nor confirmed that it was the teenager they were searching for.

On Wednesday, 911 caller, Eric Wolfe, told dispatchers that he saw what appeared to be a teenage boy flailing his arms in the water while screaming, "It bit me. It bit me."

"The only thing I could hear was, 'Something bit me,' and him screaming," Wolfe said. "By the time I got out with the binoculars, he was kind of just fighting to stay above and he just sunk under."

Raw: Crews search retention pond

Wolfe said the teenager appeared to be struggling to stay afloat in the water before going fully under.

He said the victim was about 20 yards from the shoreline and never resurfaced.

"There are many alligators in there. There are probably four alligators that I've seen. There's a big bull gator, probably about seven to nine feet," Wolfe said.

Despite "No Trespassing" signs around the fenced pond, residents said people still fish and swim there, even though it's known for alligators.

"I used to fish in there. I stopped doing that about a year ago, once that gator got way too big and aggressive," said resident Luis Cadiz.

Original story: Crews are searching an Orlando retention pond after someone called 911 Wednesday to report a teenager's possible drowning in a pond.

The 911 caller told dispatchers that he saw a teenage boy flailing his arms in the water while screaming, "It bit me, it bit me."

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it received a report of a missing 15-year-old boy near Salem Drive and Marietta Street.

>> Read more trending news

Officials later said they don't know the age of the possible missing person. Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Jeff Williamson said deputies knocked on doors in the neighborhood and there did not appear to be anyone missing.

Orlando Fire Rescue and the Orange County Sheriff's Office are helping with the search.

FWC brought in its nuisance gator truck and multiple alligators were seen swimming in the water as divers and rescue crews surrounded the pond.

 
0