An autopsy was planned.
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Demings said that he and a Catholic priest delivered the news to the boy’s parents and that it was not easy.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, ” said Nick Wiley, FWC.
Demings says more than 50 law enforcement personnel are searching the Seven Seas Lagoon for the boy and will keep looking.
In response to the attacks, Disney closed all beaches on its resort properties in the area.
“This is a tough situation”, Demings said.
“Disney will look at all of their protocols and signage going forward”, Demings said. The sheriff told The Associated Press that investigators would also review whether the boy’s parents should be charged, but it’s not likely.
“There nothing in this case to indicate that there was anything extraordinary” in terms of neglect by the parents, Demings said.
If it’s not, he said, officers will continue their search. The boy’s father tried to fight to get his son back but failed. Neither could a nearby lifeguard, officials said. The father and child were wading in shallow water on the edge of the lake when the alligator attacked.
Minnesota residents John and Kim Aho, visiting Disney with their 12-year-old son Johnny, were stunned to hear what had happened to the child, whose name has not been released.
Demings said that Disney has a very good wildlife control program.
It happened around 9:15 p.m. at the Seven Seas Lagoon near the Grand Floridian Resort.
The man-made lake stretches about 200 acres and reaches a depth of 14 feet.
“The story here is this is a tragedy and bad, but it’s a rare occurrence”, Wiley said. The boy makes 24.
The alligator incident came as Orlando reeled from a gunman killing 49 people at a gay nightclub in the city on Sunday before dying in a shoot-out with police.
Just days earlier, on Friday, The Voice alum Christina Grimmie died after being shot at her Orlando concert.
Since the boy disappeared, Wiley said, his team has removed four alligators from the lake, euthanized them and analyzed them. His father, Matt Graves, jumped in to rescue him but couldn’t wrench the boy away from the animal, Orange County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jeff Williamson said.
The alligator involved is believed to be between 1.2 and 2 metres long. It was the state’s first such fatal attack since 2007.
While it had previously been reported that the missing two year old boy was dragged while in ankle deep to a foot in water, it would be later revealed that Lane Graves had at the time was 10 feet from the shore when he was snatched. The alligator believed to be responsible was killed. “It’s certainly not survivable at this point”. “Do not feed or go near the alligators”.
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Investigators are working to identify the alligator and remove it from the area.
