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Alligator Attacks 2-Year-Old at Disney Hotel and Drags Him Underwater | Alligator Attacks 2-Year-Old at Disney Hotel and Drags Him Underwater |
(about 4 hours later) | |
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — After searching through the night, rescue workers have not yet found a 2-year-old Nebraska boy who was dragged away by an alligator at a lake at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa here on Tuesday night, officials said on Wednesday morning. | |
“This is still a search-and-rescue operation,” Jeff Williamson, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, said at a news conference. “We are hoping for the best. Sometimes you get the worst, but we’re certainly hoping for the best.” | |
A search involving dozens of staff from the sheriff’s office, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Disney employees continued through the night, but so far “to no avail,” Mr. Williamson said. The boats being used are equipped with sonar equipment and an alligator trapper, and a 10-member dive team is on standby. | |
“We’ve already taken four alligators and looked at four alligators and couldn’t find any evidence that they were involved,” Nick Wiley, executive director of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said, adding: “They had to be euthanized to be analyzed.” | |
Mr. Williamson expressed exasperation at reporters who suggested that officials might be preparing themselves for the worst. “At this particular point in time we’re not focused on what the outcome’s going to be.” He added: “We’re focused on the here, the now, today.” | |
Asked how long the search would continue, Mr. Williamson said: “We’ll call it off when we call it off, but right now there’s been no discussion of that.” | |
Earlier on Wednesday, the county sheriff, Jerry L. Demings, had expressed little hope that the boy had survived. “We’re not likely now to find a live body,” he said. | |
The attack occurred about 9:15 p.m. on the beach area of the artificial Seven Seas Lagoon, which is at Walt Disney World, according to Sheriff Demings. The boy was partly in the water at the edge of the lagoon with his mother, father and 4-year-old sister when the alligator pulled him away, the sheriff said. | |
“The father entered the water and tried to grab the child and was not successful in doing so,” Sheriff Demings said. He said the child’s mother may have also gone into the water to help. The father alerted a lifeguard, he said. | “The father entered the water and tried to grab the child and was not successful in doing so,” Sheriff Demings said. He said the child’s mother may have also gone into the water to help. The father alerted a lifeguard, he said. |
Mr. Williamson said the lifeguard on duty was “too faraway, unfortunately.” The father “was able to get over there quickly and a struggle did ensue,” Mr. Williamson said, and the father “had minor lacerations to his arm.” | |
Neither the boy nor the four other members of the family, who had been visiting the Orlando area since Sunday, have been identified. | |
“Of course they are very shaken up, extremely shaken up,” Mr. Williamson said, while emphasizing that he had not spoken directly to the family. “There are some pictures we’ve seen of a really beautiful happy family.” | |
“It is simply heartbreaking,” he said. “There is no other way to say it.” | |
Sheriff Demings said that no such attack had been recorded at the lagoon before and that no “nuisance alligators” had been reported in the area recently. Mr. Wiley, of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said that alligators attacks are “not common at all.” | |
Alligators are common in lakes in Central Florida. In 2015, the area had its first reported fatal alligator attack since 2007. The body of a swimmer, James Okkerse, 61, of DeBary, was pulled from a lake in Volusia County, north of Orlando, and he was determined to have been attacked by a 12-foot alligator that was later shot and killed. | |
The county medical examiner found that the death of Mr. Okkerse, who had disappeared while swimming in Blue Spring State Park, was consistent with an alligator attack. | The county medical examiner found that the death of Mr. Okkerse, who had disappeared while swimming in Blue Spring State Park, was consistent with an alligator attack. |
That same year, a 22-year-old man who law enforcement officials said was trying to avoid capture during a burglary was killed by an 11-foot alligator in Brevard County, east of Orlando. The man, Matthew Riggins, had drowned, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said, and his body showed signs of having been mauled. Divers from the sheriff’s office encountered an aggressive alligator that was trapped and killed. | That same year, a 22-year-old man who law enforcement officials said was trying to avoid capture during a burglary was killed by an 11-foot alligator in Brevard County, east of Orlando. The man, Matthew Riggins, had drowned, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said, and his body showed signs of having been mauled. Divers from the sheriff’s office encountered an aggressive alligator that was trapped and killed. |
The attack was the latest piece of awful news for the area, just two days after a gunman declaring allegiance to the Islamic State carried out the worst mass shooting in United States history, leaving 49 victims dead at a gay nightclub in Orlando. | |
“We’re doing our best to deal with all of the situations we have going on here,” Sheriff Demings said. “But our staff is very resilient, and tonight they’re very focused, if you will, on assisting this family.” | “We’re doing our best to deal with all of the situations we have going on here,” Sheriff Demings said. “But our staff is very resilient, and tonight they’re very focused, if you will, on assisting this family.” |