Little Lane with his father before the tragedy (Image: Lane Thomas Foundation)
A family’s dream trip to Disney World turned into a horrifying ordeal when their two year old toddler was seized by an alligator, with the father desperately trying to free his child from its jaws.
The body of Lane Graves was retrieved from the deep waters of the lake in the supposed paradise as his terrified parents looked on, unable to fend off the seven-foot creature in 2016.
After a gruelling 16-hour search and rescue operation involving dozens of emergency workers using sonar equipment and helicopters, divers located and recovered the body of the two year old.
“There’s no question in my mind that the child was drowned by the alligator,” said Orange County sheriff Jerry Demings at a press conference. “It was a tough message to deliver to them. The family was distraught but somewhat relieved we were able to retrieve their son with his body intact.”
The boy was taken from the shoreline of the Seven Seas Lagoon, an artificial lake at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, around 9.30pm on Tuesday, June 14. The family, from Nebraska, had been at the resort since Sunday and were outside enjoying an evening of open-air films and firework displays, reports the Mirror.
Lane Graves was attacked by an alligator at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort (Image: Orange County Sheriff’s Department)
Jeff Williamson, spokesman for the Orange County sheriff’s office, stated that the family, including the boy’s four year old sister, were on the shoreline at the resort’s lake, with the toddler paddling at the water’s edge with his parents nearby.
“He was about a foot in, maybe ankle-deep or a little higher,” said Williamson. “There’s a sign there that says no swimming. There’s no indication he was doing that, but he was at the edge of the water and this freakish incident takes place in which a gator comes along and latches on to this poor child.
“The father was very close by. He heard what sounded like a splash, he turned, he thought the splash was something innocent, but of course there was nothing innocent. He saw his child in the mouth of the gator. He ran to get the child out of the gator’s mouth and wrestled with the gator but was not successful. The gator was able to get the child away from the father and disappear into the water.
“It is tragic. It is heartbreaking. There’s no other way to say it,” he said, adding the father had sustained minor cuts to his arms, and he believed the mother had also entered the water.
Demings stated Disney officials had done “everything they can to make the family comfortable during this ordeal” and a Catholic priest was present when he broke the news to the parents.
The alligator was estimated to be up to seven feet long (Image: Getty Images)
A Disney spokeswoman announced the beaches at all resorts on its sprawling property were closing “out of an abundance of caution” until it was confirmed the alligator was captured.
“We are devastated by this tragic accident,” said Jacquee Wahler, director of communications for Walt Disney parks and resorts. “Our thoughts are with the family.”
Wildlife officials have captured and put down five alligators from the lake overnight, but there was no sign of the boy, according to Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC).
Wiley explained since the boy’s body was found intact and close to where he was last seen: “There’s a good chance we already have this alligator.”
The massive search operation involved 50 personnel, boats and helicopters from the FWC, sheriff’s office and Reedy Creek fire department, Demings said.
Wiley stated that although Florida is known for its alligators, a family from Nebraska may not have been aware of the potential danger posed by the lake.
“This hotel has never had complaints of an alligator attack, or an alligator nuisance, whatsoever,” he said. “This beach has been there for a very long time. We’re treating this as an isolated incident.”
He suggeste it was not clear enough that there might be alligators, saying “The sign says no swimming. There’s no other sign.”
Lane Graves parents – his father tried to save him from the alligator (Image: Youtube)
Officials confirmed it was the first alligator fatality at Disney in 45 years. “We work very closely with Disney to remove nuisance alligators as they’re observed,” Wiley said.
“We’ve got some really good professionals out there today. They know what they’re doing.”
Alligator attacks on humans in Florida remain “very rare”, he said. Wiley added: “We always caution people in Florida to be careful around water bodies, but millions of people enjoy Florida safely.
“It’s not common at all, in fact it’s very rare, for people to be attacked by alligators, in Florida or anywhere you find alligators,” he stated. “We have alligators in all freshwater across Florida. They move around.”