The body of the child who went missing after being dragged underwater by an alligator at a Disney Resort has been found.
According to reports, Lane Graves was playing at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on Tuesday night when he was suddenly grabbed by an alligator. The father of the two-year-old boy witnessed the horrifying incident and tried to fight off the gator, but the animal was too strong for him, leaving him with no option but to watch the gator clamp its jaws on his poor son as it veered away from his sight.
A rescue team immediately proceeded to their search operations which lasted for more than 15 hours. After mass searching, the boy's body has been found in the Seven Seas Lagoon where he was dragged by the gator.
According to New York Times, the divers found the body of the toddler about six feet below the murky waters and only 15 feet from where he was last seen.
In an article, CNN reported that the cadaver was found intact about 1:45 p.m. the next day, not far from where the boy was grabbed on Tuesday night.
The report also added that the body has few puncture wounds which the boy probably got when he was seized by the reptile. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings told CNN that the initial evidence shows that the boy was drowned by the gator. The body was turned over to the medical examiner for an autopsy while officers continue to look for the reptile.
Sheriff: 2-year-old was playing in water of beach area at #Disney resort before gator attack https://t.co/I5zRPMNEyr https://t.co/erB7Z5q14l — WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) June 15, 2016
Although gators are common in Florida, Wall Street Journal said in a report that gator sightings on Disney property are rare and this might have been the first time this has happened within the vicinity.
"Disney has operated for 45 years and they've never had this type of thing happen before," Demings told the WSJ.