Officials in Florida have recovered the body of a two-year-old boy who was pulled by an alligator into a lagoon near a Walt Disney resort.
The body of the toddler, identified as Lane Graves of Elkhorn, Neb., was found by members of the Orange County police’s dive team on Wednesday “within the immediate area of where he was last seen” more than 15 hours earlier, Sheriff Jerry Demings told reporters Wednesday.
Demings said officials are still waiting to formally identify the body, but said “there is no reason for us to believe that the body that was recovered is not that of Lane Graves.”
Graves was found “completely intact,” the sheriff said, adding that “there is no doubt in my mind that the child was drowned by the alligator.”
The body has been delivered to the Orange County medical examiner’s officer for an autopsy that will confirm the cause of death.
Demings also delivered a message on behalf of the boy’s parents, Matt and Melissa Graves, thanking members of the public for their support.
“They do appreciate all of the prayers that have gone forward to allow those of us who are working on the professional side to do our jobs to recover their son,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with this family.”
The attack happened at a lake near Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, at approximately 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday. Authorities said Graves was wading no more than half a metre into the Seven Seas Lagoon, an area with "no swimming" signs posted, when the gator emerged from the water. The child's father managed to intervene, but could not stop the animal from taking the boy.
Jeff Williamson, a spokesperson for the Orange County Sherriff's Department, said a lifeguard was present at the time of the attack, but unable to reach the father in time to help. "The father did his best. He tried to rescue the child," Williamson said.
Matt Graves, who is the chief data officer for Nebraska-based marketing company Infogroup, suffered injuries to his hands while trying to save his son from the alligator’s jaws.
But Ron Magill, a wildlife expert with Zoo Miami, said it is “borderline impossible for a human” to take prey away from an alligator.
“Once an adult alligator clamps its jaws down on something, there is no human being that can open those jaws or pull something out of those jaws,” he told CTV News Channel on Wednesday. “The only way that’s going to happen is if the alligator chooses to release the prey on its own.”
Earlier Wednesday, police switched their search to a recovery effort after officials became certain the toddler was dead.
"It certainly is not survivable at this point for him to have been submerged for this period of time," Demings told reporters, explaining it had been approximately 15 hours since the child disappeared. "We know that this is a recovery effort at this point."
Demings said search teams used sonar equipment to locate the body.
After the boy’s body was recovered, Walt Disney World president George Kalogridis issued a statement about the tragedy.
"There are no words to convey the profound sorrow we feel for the family and their unimaginable loss,” Kalogridis said. “We are devastated and heartbroken by this tragic accident and are doing what we can to help the family during this difficult time. On behalf of everyone at Disney, we offer our deepest sympathies."
Alligator thought boy was prey: expert
Magill called the incident a “classic case of mistaken identity.”
“The child was in shallow water in the evening time,” he said. “The alligator was just being an opportunistic feeder -- probably thought it was a racoon, possum, maybe even a duck of some sort.”
Magill said the alligator likely refrained from eating the child once it realized the boy was not one of the species it normally feeds upon.
Nick Wiley, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said it's extremely rare for alligators to behave so aggressively, but it has happened on occasion. He added that search crews are looking for an alligator between 1.5-2 metres (4-7 feet) long.
Five alligators have been euthanized since the attack, but Wiley officials will continue capturing animals in the area until they are sure they’ve found the alligator responsible for the deadly attack.
“There is a good chance that we already have the alligator because we focused our efforts…in the area of where this incident occurred,” he said. “If we can’t get a certain match, we’re going to continue to go out and look for alligators to make sure we have done everything we can.”
Wiley also said Disney officials will be co-operating with police and search and rescue officials to determine how the attack happened and how it can be prevented in the future.
“Anytime there’s a tragedy like this, we definitely will work with everyone involved to try to determine if there’s something we can learn…to make sure this never happens again and we’ll certainly be doing that,” he said.
Disney spokesperson Jacquee Wahaler said the resort is devastated by the attack. When asked if Disney was aware of alligators on the property, Wahaler pointed out that there are signs posted throughout the area that say "no swimming."
A Disney spokesperson later said a situation like this has not happened in its 45 years of operation in Florida. The company has since closed beaches at its Florida resorts.
Beaches around the lagoon where the attack occurred were closed during the search. It is unclear when they will reopen.
With files from The Associated Press
