Rescuers Find Body of Toddler Killed in Alligator Attack

The sheriff of Orange County, Florida, says the body of the 2-year-old boy killed by an alligator Tuesday has been found.

Sheriff Jerry Demings told reporters Wednesday in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, that the body of Lane Graves was found intact near the area where the alligator dragged him into the water. Demings said the alligator drowned the little boy.

Demings said the Nebraska toddler was on vacation with his parents and siblings at a Disney World hotel. Tuesday night, Lane was wading in water near the shore of a man-made lake used mostly for boating when the attack occurred.

In a statement given to the sheriff, the Graves family thanked members of the public for their prayers in the hours following the attack.

Disney officials closed beaches at the resort after finding and euthanizing four other alligators in the lake during their search for the boy. There was no sign that any of the four was involved in the attack.

More than 50 law enforcement personnel searched the Seven Seas Lagoon, which reaches a depth of about 4 meters, outside Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort in Orlando.

Demings said there have been no other recent reports of similar alligator attacks in the area.

Last October, a 61-year-old swimmer was the first victim killed by an alligator in Florida since 2007.