Police say that Lane Graves, 2, the son of Melissa and Matt Graves, was found by the dive team on Wednesday afternoon not far from where he disappeared. Police say the boy likely drowned and his body was intact, but they are doing a formal identification of the body now.
“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.
Earlier in the day, Demings said the boy was presumed dead. Rescue officials were “working on recovering the body” of the boy when he was found.
Disney closed all beaches in its resort area “out of an abundance of caution” after the alligator attack in a lagoon outside the Grand Floridian hotel Tuesday night, a Disney spokesperson said Wednesday.
The child was “wading just in the water along the lake’s edge at the time that the alligator attacked,” Demings said.
Some 50 people spent the day using sonar equipment to search a system of lakes and ponds linked by canals to the Seven Seas Lagoon where the boy was attacked.
Parents rush into water to save son
The family of four — parents, the boy and his 4-year-old sister — was on vacation from Nebraska, Demings said. They arrived Sunday.
They watched as the alligator attacked the toddler at the Seven Seas Lagoon.
“The father actually went into the water to wrestle his son from the grips of the alligator,” he said. The father suffered minor scratches on his hand, but was unsuccessful in getting his son back.
The mother also went into the water, trying to find her child, he said.
“The sad reality of it is it’s been several hours and we’re not likely going to recover a live body,” Demings said.
He said there is no record of similar incidents in this particular area.
“Everyone here at the Walt Disney Resort is devastated by this tragic accident,” said Jacquee Wahler, the vice president of the Walt Disney World Resort .
“Our thoughts are with the family. We are helping the family and doing everything we can to assist law enforcement.”
Demings said no reports of nuisance alligators have come in the region recently. The alligator is between 4 and 7 feet long, Demings said, adding he’s unsure of its exact size.
Baby pen was near water
The Reedy Creek Emergency Services call center first received a report about the attack at 9:16 p.m. ET.
The incident occurred on a sandy waterfront area outside the hotel near the Seven Seas Lagoon on the property.
Witnesses said the family was on the beach and the 4-year-old was in a play pen about 20 to 30 yards from the water on the sand, according to Demings. The toddler was wading in the water nearby.
There are “No Swimming” signs at the lagoon and no one else was in the water at the time of the attack besides the child, Demings said.
This body of water is not for recreational swimming “likely for that very reason,” the reason being alligators.
“This is Florida and it’s not uncommon for alligators to be in bodies of water,” he said.
Declan Salcido, who’s on vacation with relatives from San Jose, California, was coming back from the animal kingdom when the first ambulance arrived just after 9:15 p.m. ET.
He said there are many “No Swimming” signs near the lagoon visible “from any vantage point.”
The week
It has been a rough week for the Orlando area. A gunman massacred 49 people at an Orlando gay club early Sunday in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
A day before the rampage, a man shot singer Christina Grimmie on Saturday as she was signing autographs following a concert.
