ORLANDO, Fla. -- A body was found early Thursday in an Orange County retention pond where a teen was reported to have disappeared the day before amid fears of an alligator attack.

The body of a black or Hispanic female in her late teens or early 20s was discovered, said Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jeff Williamson during a news conference Thursday morning.

There was no evidence of an alligator bite on the body, Williamson said. Earlier, clothes were found on the shore, and deputies are working to determine whether they match those of a female who was spotted near the pond before the report of someone in the body of water.

The person spotted around the pond was "partially dressed," and the body found was also partially clothed, Williamson said.

Deputies have an idea of who the person is but will not release her identity until it is confirmed, he said.

Williamson said it is not clear yet if the woman actually lived in the area, although neighbors say she was often seen.  

No missing persons reports have been filed for the neighborhoods near the retention pond, which is south of East Colonial Drive, near State Road 417. Deputies have gone through the area to see whether anyone has been missing, and all have been accounted for, Williamson said.

He said it is expected to release the person's name later Thursday afternoon.

Rescue crews renewed their search at 7 a.m. Thursday, to find what was reported to be a teen in the retention pond. According to a witness who called 911, a person was reported to be thrashing in the water, screaming, "It bit me, it bit me!"

Eric Wolfe, the person who called 911, said he heard the person in distress, retrieved some binoculars and then watched as the person went under and never returned to the surface.

Rescuers were on the scene in minutes and searched the pond for hours until finally calling off the search at 8 p.m. due to darkness.

Wolfe said it was terrifying to watch.

"I had binoculars the whole time to report back what I was seeing and saw him surface a few times and he went under and didn't see him come back up," Wolfe said.

Investigators said they found a shirt and a shoe on the shore but could not confirm it belonged to the teen.

Jeff Williamson says despite these waters being home to several large alligators – they now believe this likely was not a gator attack. 

“Could be a suicide, could be an accident, once we get more information about this person’s background, we can start drawing a more concrete conclusion,” Williamson said.

Neighbors living near the pond said the area is supposed to be off-limits. But even though there is a fence and "no trespassing" signs, some said they have seen young kids there regularly.

"Somebody cut that open (the fence and) people ride bikes back there and everything. I've seen a guy go one day with a baby carriage and a battery with his two teenage sons, because they had a boat hidden in the woods with an electric motor and they were going fishing. I said, 'You know, there are gators in there,' and he goes, 'Yeah.' He was taking his boys back there to fish," Ruben Perez said.

The neighbors said they try to keep their distance from the water because of the gators around the lake. 

Greg Angel, David Bodden Anthony Leone and Audrea Huff contributed to this story.