The body of Lane Graves, the 2-year-old boy that was carried off by an alligator as he played in Disney World Lagoon has been found.
The body was found more than 16 hours after the terrible incident by divers just about six feet below the surface and only 10 to 15 feet from where he had last been seen. He was placed in a marine patrol boat, covered with a white sheet, and turned over to the medical examiner for an autopsy.
“His body was completely intact,” Sheriff Demings said at a news conference less than a mile from the lagoon, shortly after he and a Catholic priest had delivered the “tough message” of the boy’s death to Mr. Graves, his wife, Melissa, and their 4-year-old daughter, who live in the Elkhorn section of Omaha, Neb.
“The family was distraught but also, I believe, relieved that we were able to find their son,” said the sheriff, who noted that there was no question in his mind that “the child was drowned by the alligator.”
Lane had been splashing about, the sheriff said, despite a sign that said swimming was not permitted in the lagoon. His father also summoned a lifeguard from a nearby pool, but he, too, was unable to rescue the boy.