Body found of boy, four, who was swept out to sea by rogue wave

The body of a boy, four, who was swept out to sea by a Rogue Wave in North Carolina has been found. People magazine reports that five days after the tragic incident, authorities found the child's body on Carova Beach at 7:40 AM local time. The 4-year-old boy was identified on Monday as Wesley Belisle by the Currituck County Sherrif's Office.

Boy pulled out to sea in front of mother

He was walking along the beach with his mother in Kitty Hawk when a sudden wave knocked them both off their feet. Unfortunately, the child was in the ocean's grip as the strong current pulled him out to deeper water.

According to the Coast Guard, the boy was swept away by the wave at around 4 PM local time on April 25. It was a devastating incident in which his mother was completely helpless. She soon lost sight of the boy, who disappeared in the water's overpowering current.

Rescuers suspended their search for Wesley Belisle after 10 hours. By Thursday, action to find the boy was deemed a recovery effort. Local citizens and other officials were patrolling the beaches in hopes that the child's body would surface.

Authorities made hard calls

Chief Joel C. Johnson of the Kitty Hawk Police Department wrote in a Facebook post following the tragedy that Wesley was under the "watchful eye" of his parents when he was pulled out to sea.

He expressed in his post that what occurred is every parent's "worst nightmare." Capt. Bion Stewart, the commander of the North Carolina sector's Coast Guard, said in a statement that suspending a search for a child "is the most difficult thing" for a commander to do.

The family hasn't been identified, but its been revealed that the boy was their only child.

Only a hat remained behind

The Washington Post reports that only the boy's hat was left behind two miles north from where he was swept to sea. The discovery was made a mere hour after he disappeared, a testament to how quickly the winds and currents were that day. The report stated that it was "a warm and sunny spring afternoon on the Outer Banks." Surf was particularly violent with 4-to-6-foot-high waves.

The child and his mother were alone when they fell over as a result of the unexpected wave.

Search and rescue covered 130-square nautical miles. A helicopter and lifeboat scanned the waters for the missing boy, but were unsuccessful.

Locals participated in the search for the boy after he was swept into the ocean. A memorial was made with balloons, flowers, stuffed animals, and crosses.