Authorities search for boy dragged away by gator

Although the boy has been missing overnight, a rep for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is deeming its efforts a “search and rescue operation”. “We are very hopeful”.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said there have been no other similar alligator attacks on the lake. Their grief, Williamson said, was incomprehensible.

Demings said the boy’s family “will no question lose a 2-year-old child”.

But despite the expansive bodies of water they were combing and the vast power and ruthlessness of the animal they were looking for, authorities remained optimistic they’d find the boy – but were vague about whether they believed there was any chance he could have survived.

The father suffered minor cuts on his arm.

“We’re going to hope for the best in these circumstances”, Demings said. “We’re not likely now to find a live body”, he said.

“Everyone here at the Walt Disney World resort is devastated by this tragic accident”, a Disney official told reporters Wednesday.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, ” said Nick Wiley, FWC.

Demings said no reports of nuisance alligators have come in the region recently. The alligator, estimated to be 4 feet to 7 feet long, emerged from the lake and grabbed the child, who was partially in the water, in its mouth.

Jeff Corwin, a noted national animal expert, said he was surprised this happened so close to a highly regulated area but noted there are millions of alligators in Florida. Disney has many thousand acres.

The child was wading in the lagoon when the alligator struck.

Wiley said the child was on the edge of the lagoon when the alligator attacked, according to the boy’s family.

When a gator bites down, his jaws snap closed, with thousands of pounds of force, Corwin said. “I can’t imagine the terror on these people’s minds trying to manage this”, he said. That person survived the attack, but required medical care. Only 23 of those attacks were fatal.

There were no other people in the water at the time of the attack, according to authorities.

A Disney representative, speaking on condition of anonymity because the company had yet to prepare a formal statement, said the entertainment giant was closing beaches “out of an abundance of caution”. The toddler was nearby, wading in the water. Thus far, four alligators have been removed from the Seven Seas lagoon. Signs posted near the lake warn against swimming in it, but there were no signs warning of alligators.

The boy was playing in about a foot of water in a beach area with his father when he was taken by an alligator that witnesses described as anywhere from four to seven feet in length.

After almost 10 hours of searching, authorities had still found no trace of the boy. Helicopters, two marine units, sonar equipment, a dive team and an alligator trapper are being employed in the hunt for the toddler in the darkened waters. Divers are on standby.

“This is a tough situation”, Demings said at a news conference.

At least 10 emergency vehicles were on the scene, and the beach was cordoned off.

Chad Weber from the Fish and Wildlife Commission said he was unaware of any reports of alligators in the area, but added that any such reports would be part of the investigation. It has deployed an alligator trapper, officer Chad Weber said. “We know this is a recovery effort at this point”.

A helicopter with a search light scoured the lagoon as a handful of Disney employees ushered people away from the sidewalks overlooking the beach.

This attack is the third tragedy to strike the Orlando area in less than a week.

The boy’s family arrived in Orlando from Nebraska on Sunday.

The night before that attack, singer Christina Grimmie was shot and killed in Orlando, apparently by a deranged fan, while signing autographs after a concert.