The body of a boy who was attacked by an alligator has been found dead.
At 3:30pm ET today, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said that officials had retrieved the boy’s remains, after he was pulled into the man-made Seven Seas Lagoon around 9:00 p.m. ET Wednesday night, according to NBC News.
The boy’s mother and father were watching as he waded “along the lake’s edge at the time that the alligator attacked” (their four-year-old daughter was about “20 to 30” yards away from the water).
When the search first kicked off, Demings explained during a press conference how the series of events was hopeful.
The father had tried to pry the alligator’s mouth open to release his son, and the mother ran into the water to try and save him as the reptile dragged his prey away.
A lifeguard called 911 immediately after being alerted, and soon boats from Disney and law enforcement were combing the waters, looking for the victim.
Sonar devices were used, divers and alligator trappers did their best, but the outlook grew grim as the hours went by.
In a press conference earlier today, Demings warned that people had to prepare for the worst.
“The sad reality of it is it’s been several hours, and we’re not likely going to recover a live body,” he said.
Signs are posted all over resort beaches in Disney World, and no swimming is allowed in any of the lakes.
“They [alligators] were probably attracted to some motion on the bank,” executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Nick Wiley explained, according to USA Today. “That’s the way they stalk their prey.”
Experts believe the alligator mistook the boy for a dog or a raccoon.
No other details about the victim or his parents are available as of press time.