Divers found the body of the 2-year-old Nebraska boy who was snatched by an alligator near a Disney Resort Hotel.
Lane Graves likely drowned when the nearly 7-foot alligator dragged the boy underwater at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday near Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
“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,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings told reporters at a news conference Wednesday.
Demings said the child’s body was “completely intact” when it was found. He was found in 6 feet of water about 15 feet out from where he was grabbed.
The body was found at 1:45 p.m. by divers who searched all night and into the morning.
5 alligators were caught overnight and euthanized.
Lane was with his parents, Matt and Melissa Graves, and 2 sisters at an outdoor movie night, when he waded about 10 feet into the Seven Seas Lagoon.
After the gator grabbed Lane, Matt Graves fought desperately to save his son. He suffered lacerations on both hands during the battle. Melissa Graves dived into the water also, but the gator retreated into the water with the boy in his jaws.
Disney closed all man-made beaches on the Lake Buena Vista property Wednesday.
