CAROVA BEACH, N.C. — The body of a 4-year-old boy who was swept away by an ocean wave while walking along the beach with his mother in the Outer Banks last week was found Monday morning, police said.
Officers said the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office found the body of Wesley Belisle around 7:40 a.m. on Carova Beach, about 34 miles north of Kitty Hawk.
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A heart-shaped seashell memorial remains on a Kitty Hawk beach, where officials with the U.S. Coast Guard said the boy and his mother were walking Wednesday afternoon when a wave hit the child and carried him out into the ocean.
Officials said the mother lost sight of her son as he went further from the shore. Police said the Belisle family was vacationing from New Hampshire, and the boy was their only child.
Wesley's family was notified and is making arrangements for him to be transported back to New Hampshire, police said.
Crews combed 130 square miles before suspending their search in favor of recovery efforts.
“We hope that the outpouring of compassion and offers of support, thoughts and prayers to the Belisle family from people all over the world can bring them some amount of solace in this time of tremendous grief,” Kitty Hawk Police Chief Joel C. Johnson said.