two year old boy attacked and drowned by alligator near Disney World hotel

[Anonymous]

How sad.

 ac_crying



http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/">http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alliga ... y-florida/">http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/

Lake Buena Vista, Florida (CNN) — A 2-year-old boy pulled by an alligator into a lagoon near a Walt Disney World hotel has been found dead, authorities said.



An Orange County dive team found Lane Graves' body intact about 1:45 p.m., not far from where he was grabbed Tuesday night, Sheriff Jerry Demings said Wednesday.



His body had only a few puncture wounds, according to a source familiar with the investigation.



"Of course, the autopsy has to confirm that, but there is likely no question in my mind that the child was drowned by the alligator," Demings said.



He said the body was found in 6 feet of murky water 10 to 15 yards from where the boy was attacked.



The fact that the body was found intact makes sense, said Jeff Corwin, host of "Ocean Mysteries" on ABC.



"That gator came in, grabbed that boy, pulled him, the dad startled that gator, the gator let him go and then the boy drowned," he said.



Alligators don't swim that far -- they sink into the murky water and lurk there -- which explains why the father did not see the boy when he jumped into the water to try and save him, Corwin said.



The boy's parents are from Elkhorn, Nebraska, and were identified as Matt and Melissa Graves.



"The Graves family appreciates the support they have received and have asked for privacy as they grieve the loss of their son," the sheriff's department tweeted.



Demings said the Graves were distraught yet relieved that this was not a protracted search.



He said he brought a priest with him when breaking the news to the parents, who are Catholic.



Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Nick Wiley said the alligator may have already been caught, but that has not yet been confirmed.



"We're going to make certain that we have the alligator that was involved, and that we remove it from the lake," he said.



Forensics teams will try to determine whether one of the alligators already taken from the lake is the one that dragged off the boy. If not, the search for alligators in the lake will continue.



The boy's family was at a movie night outdoors at the Grand Floridian resort when around 9 p.m. the boy waded into about a foot of water in a lagoon, authorities have said. Witnesses, including the boy's horrified parents, tried to save him. His father jumped in and tried to pry the gator's mouth open. His mother jumped in, too.



But it was too late. The child was dragged underwater in the Seven Seas Lagoon, witnesses told authorities. The lagoon is connected to a series of canals that feed into large bodies of water, Wiley said earlier.



The Reedy Creek emergency services call center first received a report about the attack at 9:16 p.m.



A search began for the boy immediately, with boats from Disney searching along with law enforcement.



By midmorning Wednesday, Disney had closed all beaches in its resort area "out of an abundance of caution" after the attack, a Disney representative said.



Wiley said the child was on the edge of the lagoon when the alligator attacked, according to the boy's family. He cautioned that the investigation is still in an early stage and officials need to interview at least two other families who may have witnessed the attack.



Demings specifically said the child was "wading ... along the lake's edge at the time that the alligator attacked."

[cc]

Yes. A sad story.



Having lived 3 yrs in Florida I know that every small pond contains a gator ... large bodies of water contain several, each with his own area



That there were no major and plentiful  warnings posted, especially in a place frequented by unknowing non-Crackers is unforgivable ... could be getting close to negligible homicide

[JOE]

...that's why I don't want to live in Florida. Doesn't interest me & I wouldn't feel safe walking at night time. I've been there a couple of times. The Florida Keys were nice, but the rest of the state doesn't interest me.







And if I had small children, I wouldn't bring them there. And if it's not the aligators, crocs, then you have snakes and an assortment of reptiles. Uggh.

[cc]

Aw, a gatorphobe

[Anonymous]

How sad.

 ac_crying



http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/">http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alliga ... y-florida/">http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/

Lake Buena Vista, Florida (CNN) — A 2-year-old boy pulled by an alligator into a lagoon near a Walt Disney World hotel has been found dead, authorities said.



An Orange County dive team found Lane Graves' body intact about 1:45 p.m., not far from where he was grabbed Tuesday night, Sheriff Jerry Demings said Wednesday.



His body had only a few puncture wounds, according to a source familiar with the investigation.



"Of course, the autopsy has to confirm that, but there is likely no question in my mind that the child was drowned by the alligator," Demings said.



He said the body was found in 6 feet of murky water 10 to 15 yards from where the boy was attacked.



The fact that the body was found intact makes sense, said Jeff Corwin, host of "Ocean Mysteries" on ABC.



"That gator came in, grabbed that boy, pulled him, the dad startled that gator, the gator let him go and then the boy drowned," he said.



Alligators don't swim that far -- they sink into the murky water and lurk there -- which explains why the father did not see the boy when he jumped into the water to try and save him, Corwin said.



The boy's parents are from Elkhorn, Nebraska, and were identified as Matt and Melissa Graves.



"The Graves family appreciates the support they have received and have asked for privacy as they grieve the loss of their son," the sheriff's department tweeted.



Demings said the Graves were distraught yet relieved that this was not a protracted search.



He said he brought a priest with him when breaking the news to the parents, who are Catholic.



Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Nick Wiley said the alligator may have already been caught, but that has not yet been confirmed.



"We're going to make certain that we have the alligator that was involved, and that we remove it from the lake," he said.



Forensics teams will try to determine whether one of the alligators already taken from the lake is the one that dragged off the boy. If not, the search for alligators in the lake will continue.



The boy's family was at a movie night outdoors at the Grand Floridian resort when around 9 p.m. the boy waded into about a foot of water in a lagoon, authorities have said. Witnesses, including the boy's horrified parents, tried to save him. His father jumped in and tried to pry the gator's mouth open. His mother jumped in, too.



But it was too late. The child was dragged underwater in the Seven Seas Lagoon, witnesses told authorities. The lagoon is connected to a series of canals that feed into large bodies of water, Wiley said earlier.



The Reedy Creek emergency services call center first received a report about the attack at 9:16 p.m.



A search began for the boy immediately, with boats from Disney searching along with law enforcement.



By midmorning Wednesday, Disney had closed all beaches in its resort area "out of an abundance of caution" after the attack, a Disney representative said.



Wiley said the child was on the edge of the lagoon when the alligator attacked, according to the boy's family. He cautioned that the investigation is still in an early stage and officials need to interview at least two other families who may have witnessed the attack.



Demings specifically said the child was "wading ... along the lake's edge at the time that the alligator attacked."

And this comes on the heels of a Disney employee being killed in the Islamic attack on the gay nightclub.

[RW]

Yes. A sad story.



Having lived 3 yrs in Florida I know that every small pond contains a gator ... large bodies of water contain several, each with his own area



That there were no major and plentiful  warnings posted, especially in a place frequented by unknowing non-Crackers is unforgivable ... could be getting close to negligible homicide

I have lived in Canada my whole life and even I wouldn't touch water in Florida because of gators.



Disney is going to pay big for that lack of signage but it won't ever be enough for the loss of their child.

[Anonymous]

Yes. A sad story.



Having lived 3 yrs in Florida I know that every small pond contains a gator ... large bodies of water contain several, each with his own area



That there were no major and plentiful  warnings posted, especially in a place frequented by unknowing non-Crackers is unforgivable ... could be getting close to negligible homicide

I have lived in Canada my whole life and even I wouldn't touch water in Florida because of gators.



Disney is going to pay big for that lack of signage but it won't ever be enough for the loss of their child.

They should have contract pest control out there regularly looking for gators.

[cc]

Yes. A sad story.



Having lived 3 yrs in Florida I know that every small pond contains a gator ... large bodies of water contain several, each with his own area



That there were no major and plentiful  warnings posted, especially in a place frequented by unknowing non-Crackers is unforgivable ... could be getting close to negligible homicide

I have lived in Canada my whole life and even I wouldn't touch water in Florida because of gators.



Disney is going to pay big for that lack of signage but it won't ever be enough for the loss of their child.

We did not swim much in natural water for that reason.



 Clearly Disney is at fault privately  and possibly criminally because of poor to no signage for a well known / obvious  threat

[RW]

It did say not to swim but that wasn't adequate IMHO.

[cc]

When in Flodida a Cracker showed us a grainy film of a ridden horse and gator starting from a dead stop (they dropped a rabbit 10 ft ahead of the gator and both started exactly together)



At the 20 ft marker, guess which was ahead? Of course the horse passed it at about 30 ft and the gator was pooped out totally



After seeing that, we never went anywhere near open fresh water

[RW]

They are fast!

[kiebers]

It did say not to swim but that wasn't adequate IMHO.

Very true. Just like the gorilla episode. There should be no access to those areas. Disney should be held responsible. Not sure they are the only responsible ones though.

[Twenty Dollars]

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I've seen them take a wading dog more than once. Right at this spot. A surf break right on the other side of the estero called casitas. No one to sue here.

[Twenty Dollars]

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Salt water too.

[Annie]

When we went to Florida Disney World about 10 years ago there were gators everywhere it seemed.  They were in the ditches, the local ponds and a life guard told us that occasionally one would travel across the grass and slip into the private resort swimming pool. We fished at a small pond and there were hugs turtles and we saw a gator slide into the water. It was about 5 feet long.  We visited  Gatorland and some of them were friggin huge! Even though there were fences (those orange mesh things) around waterways, they still travelled and slid into whatever waterway they wanted to.