Crews search for teenager in Florida pond after witness claims seeing him go under
A witness called 911 to report watching a teenager go under in a Florida pond.
Crews are searching a Florida retention pond after a man reported witnessing a teenager flailing in the water and go under.
Orlando Fire and Rescue crews with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) have been performing an active search and rescue mission in the pond in efforts to find the teen, Orange County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jeff Williamson said in a press conference.
The water rescue efforts will continue until they find the missing individual, which could take days, according to Williamson.
A man was in his backyard when he spotted a male teenager flailing in the water, roughly 20 to 30 yards from the shoreline, Williamson said.
The man ran back into his house to grab binoculars and better see the person in the water. The man reported hearing the person yell, “it bit me, it bit me,” before going underwater and never resurfacing.
Trappers from the FWC spotted a 6-foot-long alligator in the pond, Chad Weber, an FWC officer, said in the press conference.
Authorities are canvassing the area around the pond in an attempt to learn if anyone has been reported missing, Williamson said.
The pond is roughly 8-feet deep, and the water rescue search includes using boats with sonar that are highly likely to detect a person, according to Williamson. If there is a hit on sonar, a rescue dive team will be called in.
Until then, the search continues.
