Body of 2-Year-Old Snatched by Alligator at Disney Resort Has Been Found

Searchers have found the body of the 2-year-old boy who was dragged into a lake by an alligator at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World.


The tragic incident happened about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night at the Seven Seas Lagoon on hotel property near Magic Kingdom, prompting Disney to close all of its resort beaches “out of an abundance of caution.”

The boy’s body was found Wednesday afternoon.

via CNN:

The 2-year-old boy was vacationing with his family from Nebraska and had arrived at the resort Sunday, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.

Witnesses said the family was on the beach and the boy’s 4-year-old sister was in a playpen about 20 or 30 yards from the water on the sand, Demings said.

“The father actually went into the water to wrestle his son from the grips of the alligator,” Demings said.

Demings said the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is working in conjunction with the Florida Wildlife Commission and will continue to search until the child’s body is recovered.

Nick Wiley with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said four alligators were taken from the water overnight, but officials found no immediate indication they were involved in the child’s disappearance. He said the alligators will be cut open and their remains examined after they are euthanized.

Orange County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jeff Williamson said the boy was at the edge of the lake, probably about a foot or two into the water, when the alligator attacked.

A “no swimming” sign was posted at the lake where the boy was snatched.

“Everyone here at the Walt Disney World Resort is devastated by this tragic accident,” Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahaler said. “Our thoughts are with the family. We are helping the family and doing everything we can to help law enforcement.”

So sad.