Orlando Sentinel: Searchers found the remains of a missing 2-year-old boy, who was dragged away from his family by an alligator near a Disney hotel Tuesday night.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings ID’d the child as Lane Graves, son to Matt and Melissa Graves.
The boy’s father wrestled with the alligator on the shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon, trying to pry to child from the alligator’s jaw, but came away only with scratches on his hands. more
May our Heavenly Father give them comfort
Tragic Kingdom.
I feel for the parents but there were “no swimming” signs.
It was 9 PM and a nice pool was nearby.
That resort is $400+ a night.
They should have been at the pool.
A 2 year old swimming in the dark?
If I were the father I would have died trying to get that gator.
They were from Nebraska and didn’t know that “if there is a body of water in Florida it likely has gators.”
Sad week in 407.
Hey FUR, don’t move to Orange County. 3 disasters in a row.
The poor kid was in knee deep water, he wasn’t swimming. The sign said no swimming. They are from Nebraska, what do they know about alligators? There is no doubt in my mind that if the sign said ALLIGATORS the little boy would not be in the water. I’ll pray for them.
I feel really bad for the family but it was after 9PM, it was dark.
The child had no business in that water at that time.
The parents made a grave mistake.
Even so, it is a rare occurrence that a gator would attack, (dare I say feed) like that.
JoeSIX, so “no swimming” means you can wade, float, scuba, snorkel, dive, & clam, but you just can’t swim?
Got it.
You a defense lawyer?
Loco, no just a parent and grandparent. What the hell, have you ever walked in knee deep water in a no swimming area? Gimme a frickin break.
Joe, I am blaming the parents, not the child.
Perhaps I am jaded since I live in Florida and I am very aware of alligators.
Disney is also culpable, but ultimately, what the fuck is a two year old doing in a lagoon in Florida in the dark of night?
They have my sympathy but they made a grave mistake.
KI got nothin’.
Lagoon with alligators is an “attractive nuisance”. Disney created a sandy beach around the lagoon with a children’s playground but didn’t warn of alligators or put a fence around the lagoon to protect people from alligators.
Splashing is what attracts alligators. This one could just as easily have snatched the child with his body on the beach and hands splashing the water as in 6 inches of water.
Nobody. NOBODY would have a reasonable expectation that tightly controlled children’s fantasyland Disney would allow deadly alligators in their man-made lagoon at a 5 star resort.
I’m not from Florida. I was shocked to hear Disney World had alligators in any ponds or lake they have on their property! It would have never occurred to me me that a “No Swimming” sign meant alligators! THAT should be what’s on the sign! “No Swimming Because Of Freaking Alligators!!!” I thought this place was for kids!!!
I used to visit Florida every year, and one of my favorites places to eat was a funky little roadside smokehouse BBQ joint.
As a “tourist attraction” they had an old alligator in a cement pond in front of the place, with chicken wire covering it. He was a mean old MF.
One year the alligator wasn’t there, so I asked the owner what happened to it.
He said that somebody stole it.
Tuesday, they don’t “have” gators there for show.
That body of water has been there since 1970.
It is a relatively large body of water.
In Florida you must assume gators reside in nearly every body of water, because they do!
Even tiny man made ponds.
How do they get there? Who knows, but you can’t keep them out.
If they were out there in daylight they would have likely seen the gator.
Ultimately it was a freak occurrence.
That poor family will never sleep peacefully again.
I would think that Disney should know that gators may travel from one body of water to others (even across land) during mating season and have someone on staff, or an outside party under contract, to make sure they are not in their waters or in waters. It’s not like it would be an issue of them being able to afford to do it. I lived in Florida for many years. When you live there you presume if there is water, there may be gators. If you’re from the mid-west, that knowledge is likely not there. As for Disney, “investigators pulled and killed five gators from the area”. It’s a little late, if you’re going to provide a “play beach area”, you probably should have ongoing investigations done by qualified people, not after a tragedy occurs.
PETA outrage in 3, 2, 1, …
@ Loco, how they get there? In some cases, older larger males will evict smaller gators from their pond. These younger ones will wander off in search of a suitable home. In other instances it’s a matter of over crowding. Too many gators, not enough food. Happens here in SC. Farm ponds, neighborhood lakes, are all fair game. Almost impossible to keep them out.
He said that somebody stole it.
He said that somebody smoked it.