After a day of intense searching, officials have recovered the body of a toddler who was dragged underwater by an alligator at a Disney World resort in Orlando.
The boy wading in shallow at the edge of the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney’s Grand Floridian resort Tuesday night with his family. The mother, father and another sibling had arrived on Sunday from Nebraska for a family holiday.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings identified the boy as Lane Graves of Elkhorn, Nebraska.
The search team grew to 50 people Wednesday as trappers and divers searched Disney’s network of man-made canals, ponds and lakes.
At least five other alligators were caught and cut open before they found the killer.
Graves was with his parents and 4-year-old sister, relaxing at the Seven Seas Lagoon man-made lake when the animal struck.
More than 15 hours into the search, Demings acknowledged earlier in the day that the child’s trauma was “not survivable.”
Demings said at a press conference Wednesday that Disney has operated at the site for years and they’ve never had this type of tragedy before.
“Remember it is Florida and alligators are indigenous to this region of the country,” he said.
