Search for boy snatched by alligator turns to recovery effort at Disney World

[RUPERTKBD]

 

Quote

 

About 50 people are "working on recovering the body" of a two-year-old boy snatched by an alligator at Walt Disney World, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings says.

He said the boy's family "will no question lose a two-year-old child."

Searchers are using sonar equipment as they search a system of lakes and ponds linked by canals to the Seven Seas Lagoon where the boy was attacked while wading in about a foot of water at 9 p.m. Tuesday night.

Demings said they are trying to "bring some closure to this family."

The boy was dragged away from his terrified parents by an alligator at Disney World's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Orlando.

Officials said the alligator emerged from the Seven Seas Lagoon and grabbed the boy, defeating the father's frantic efforts to wrestle his son away. 

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Deputies searched through the night and continued to comb the waters this morning, aided by sonar equipment and helicopters.

Demings said Disney has never had anything like this happen in 45 years of operations. He said the theme park's wildlife management system works diligently to keep guests safe from dangerous creatures, removing or killing any alligators they find.

Shortly after daybreak on Wednesday, officials spoke of remaining hopeful, but they deflected questions about the boy's chance of survival. 

"Sometimes you get the worst, but we are hoping for the best," said Jeff Williamson of the Orange County Sheriff's Office. 

"They've been trying to find him for nine hours right now and there is just — as far as we know, no sign of this young boy."

The child is from Nebraska, part of a family visiting the Orlando area. His father suffered minor injuries during the rescue attempt, officials said. The mother also tried to rescue the boy. Their names have not been released. 

A lifeguard was on duty, but did not arrive on the scene in time to help, according to Williamson. 

This image taken from video provided courtesy of WKMG in Florida shows an area near where an alligator dragged a two-year-old boy into the water Tuesday night. (WKMG via AP)

Attacks 'very rare'

Though alligators are relatively common throughout Florida, attacks against humans are "very rare" according to wildlife official Nick Wiley.  

"Millions of people enjoy Florida safely. But you have to be aware and you have to be careful," he told reporters. 

The water from where the boy was taken is only about 30 centimetres deep, and marked with "no swimming" signs.

Alligators common to the area are usually 1.2 metres to two metres long, according to one official.

Wiley said four alligators have been found in the area so far and examined, without any sign of the boy. 

All Disney resort beaches and recreational marinas in the area are closed and, in a statement, the company said it is "devastated" by the attack.

"Our thoughts are with the family. We are helping the family and doing everything we can to assist law enforcement," Disney said. 

 

Awful week for Orlando...

[Salacious Crumb]

No kidding? It was about finding his partially digested corpse about 5 minutes after he got snatched.

[Kakanucks]

Terrible terrible news, sorry for what the parents had to go through.

 

However, if there was a sign saying no swimming, why was the toddler still wading in the water??

Signs and rules are there for a reason.

 

 

[Cerridwen]

Just now, Kakanucks said:

Terrible terrible news, sorry for what the parents had to go through.

 

However, if there was a sign saying no swimming, why was the toddler still wading in the water??

Signs and rules are there for a reason.

 

 

Signs will now include "No Wading" after the lawsuit is filed?

 

A horrible, horrible thing to have happened. I can't even begin to imagine how those parents are feeling

[nuckin_futz]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL (RNN) - The body of a 2-year-old boy who was dragged by an alligator into a Disney resort lake has been recovered, according to CNN.

 

http://www.azfamily.com/story/32225258/cnn-toddlers-body-recovered-after-alligator-attack

[trek]

Thats very sad. Unfortunately given the size of a 2 year old, there won't be much left of him.

[HerrDrFunk]

Jesus....poor kid 

[Angry Goose]

heartbreaking

[Stanky Legs]

Horrifying story. 

[GLASSJAW]

21 minutes ago, trek said:

Thats very sad. Unfortunately given the size of a 2 year old, there won't be much left of him.

his body was already found and pretty much intact. 

[aGENT]

Uggghhh 

[Cerridwen]

..............

[chon derry]

why is a man made pond NOT isolated from other bodies of water that are bearing alligators? owned by  disney ,that can replicate anything else relatively safe?  it looked like small beaches surrounding this pond , wouldn't it have been easier to midagate all risk ,than to assume "do not swim signs" around the attractive little beach worked!

[Stanky Legs]

37 minutes ago, chon derry said:

why is a man made pond NOT isolated from other bodies of water that are bearing alligators? owned by  disney ,that can replicate anything else relatively safe?  it looked like small beaches surrounding this pond , wouldn't it have been easier to midagate all risk ,than to assume "do not swim signs" around the attractive little beach worked!

It's not man made. It is a real lake.

[RUPERTKBD]

1 hour ago, trek said:

Thats very sad. Unfortunately given the size of a 2 year old, there won't be much left of him.

Alligators and Crocodiles don't usually eat their prey right away. Generally they'll drown the victim and then stash the body for feeding later...

 

I can't imagine what the poor little guy went through. (or his parents) As a parent myself, I feel just awful for the family.

[chon derry]

30 minutes ago, Stanky Legs said:

It's not man made. It is a real lake.

The recovery ended a search that began shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday on the beach of the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. The artificial lake, which covers about 200 acres, is 14 feet deep in parts and feeds a series of canals that wind through the Disney complex. It lies across from Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park

[falcon45ca]

1 hour ago, chon derry said:

why is a man made pond NOT isolated from other bodies of water that are bearing alligators? owned by  disney ,that can replicate anything else relatively safe?  it looked like small beaches surrounding this pond , wouldn't it have been easier to midagate all risk ,than to assume "do not swim signs" around the attractive little beach worked!

Alligators have been found in people's swimming pools in Florida. The body of water being isolated from others has nothing to do with it, cuz' alligators can walk across land.

 

 

[Canucks_fo_life]

Thankfully 5 or 6 of the alligators in that body of water will now be put down, why the hell are they inside a resort in the first place? Idiotic

[Stanky Legs]

11 minutes ago, chon derry said:

The recovery ended a search that began shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday on the beach of the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. The artificial lake, which covers about 200 acres, is 14 feet deep in parts and feeds a series of canals that wind through the Disney complex. It lies across from Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park

Yes, you are correct. I am sorry, can you forgive me?

[goalie13]

4 minutes ago, falcon45ca said:

Alligators have been found in people's swimming pools in Florida. The body of water being isolated from others has nothing to do with it, cuz' alligators can walk across land.

 

 

I golfed once at one of the Disney courses there.  The local I was golfing with basically warned me to that I should assume every body of water has an alligator and to forget trying to retrieve a lost ball.