Disney Gator Attack: Lane Graves" Dad Recalls What He Saw

Matt Graves lived through every parent’s worst nightmare on June 14th.  After his two-year-old son, Lane was dragged into a lake by an alligator, Matt had to tell authorities what happened.

Officials have released a new report with Matt’s account, in which the father-of-two tried to reach into the alligator’s mouth and “grab its teeth” when it snatched his son, according to Time.

The family was watching a movie on the beach at the Grand Floridian resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando at around 8:30 p.m. that night.  Lane was making sand castles by the park’s Seven Seas Lagoon, a man-made lake filled with wildlife.

As Lane, who reports confirm was 37 inches tall and weighed about 30 pounds, was filling a bucket of water for the sand castle, the alligator bit his head and dragged him into the water.

“I saw it come out to get him,” Matt told authorities, adding that he put his hands in the gator’s mouth in an attempt to rescue Lane, but the eight-foot animal only struggled briefly before going under water.

The alligator, according to Matt, “just took off.”

First responders and divers searched for Lane until an officer found his body under 6-7 feet of water, about 10 to 15 feet from where he was taken.

Authorities capture six alligators in the lake, one of which they believe is responsible for Lane’s death.  They also noted that two of the alligators had empty stomachs, which would indicate that their “drive for food would be strong.”

The Orange County Medical Examiner’s officer determined death an accident, noting that Lane suffered injuries to “neck, scalp and skull.”

Disney had “No Swimming” signs on resort beaches prior to the accident.  However, there were no warnings of alligators and snakes, since lounge chairs were available for guests to sit on.  Since June 14th, Disney has updated their signs to include the dangerous wildlife in the lakes.

Disney Gator Attack: Victim"s Family Decides NOT to Sue!

Last month, a 2-year-old boy named Lane Graves was killed by an alligator while staying at a Disney World resort with his family.

As the details of the tragedy emerged, it began to look as though the park was at fault for failure to post signs warning guests that gators and other dangerous wildlife may be present in the shallow waters surrounding the resort.

The case seemed to have the makings of a lawsuit that would not only result in a massive judgment for the Graves family, but also send a message about the importance of proper safety measures to theme parks around the country.

Shockingly, however, TMZ is now reporting that the Graves family has decided not to sue the Disney corporation.

According to the site, Matt and Melissa Graves issued a statement moments ago in which they shared a personal message about their worsening grief, but also revealed that they will not be seeking damages from Disney.

In the statement, the Graves stated that they’re struggling to “comprehend why this happened” and feel that “the pain gets worse” with each passing day.

However, they say that they see nothing to be gained by enduring a lengthy legal process.

In lieu of a lawsuit, the Graves announced that they will found the Lane Thomas Foundation in order to “keep his spirit alive.”

The family didn’t go into specifics regarding the purpose of the foundation.

They also didn’t reveal how it would be funded, but it’s widely assumed that Disney will be footing the bill.

The Graves family has spoken out about the tragedy in the past, and while their anger and grief is clear, they never explicitly blamed Disney.

Perhaps they believe that the death of their son was simply a senseless tragedy and they prefer any action taken in his name to be entirely positive.

Our thoughts go out to the Graves during this difficult time.

Florida Man Fights For Right to Keep 47-Year-Old Pet Gator

Over the years, we’ve brought you many stories about the quirky men and women who help make Florida Florida.

But all of those drunk doctors and burrito brawlers may have just been out Florida’ed by a 47-year-old male alligator named Gwendolyn.

Gwendolyn the Pet Gator

You see, Gwendolyn isn’t your average run of the mill gator who subsists on a diet of small animals and Florida residents.

He’s a housebroken pet who apparently doesn’t get too hung-up about gender stuff.

For most of the past five decades, Gwendolyn has lived with retired firefighter David Van Buren, who informally adopted the massive reptile when he wandered into his home when Van Buren was just 9 years old.

“Once he was in the house, he didn’t want to leave,” Van Buren recently told Inside Edition.

“I think it took us like three weeks to get him to go back outside. He was on the couch all the time or in the bathtub.”

Gwen even joined Van Buren he went off to college.

It’s not hard to see what Gwendolyn gets out of the arrangement:

Van Buren says the gator eats a steady diet of pizza and snackfood, such as Chips Ahoy! cookies.

(Check out the clip above to see Gwen devour a few slices. You’ll instantly feel better about your own eating habits.)

Unfortunately, that diet has resulted in one gargantuan gator.

Gwendolyn has reached over 13 feet in length, a fact that recently led Florida Fish and Wildlife authorities to inform Van Buren that he’s too big to be kept as a pet.

Van Buren fought the court order to turn Gwendolyn over to the authorities and because sometimes things work out in this world (and this is Florida) it looks like he’ll win his case.

The Fish and Wildlife Department has reportedly agreed with Van Buren’s argument that the best outcome for Gwendolyn would be continuing to live in an enclosure in Van Buren’s backyard.

We don’t see how anyone who’s seen his diet could disagree.

View Slideshow: Florida Man: Strange Sunshine State Stories

Florida Man Fights For Right to Keep 47-Year-Old Pet Gator

Over the years, we’ve brought you many stories about the quirky men and women who help make Florida Florida.

But all of those drunk doctors and burrito brawlers may have just been out Florida’ed by a 47-year-old male alligator named Gwendolyn.

Gwendolyn the Pet Gator

You see, Gwendolyn isn’t your average run of the mill gator who subsists on a diet of small animals and Florida residents.

He’s a housebroken pet who apparently doesn’t get too hung-up about gender stuff.

For most of the past five decades, Gwendolyn has lived with retired firefighter David Van Buren, who informally adopted the massive reptile when he wandered into his home when Van Buren was just 9 years old.

“Once he was in the house, he didn’t want to leave,” Van Buren recently told Inside Edition.

“I think it took us like three weeks to get him to go back outside. He was on the couch all the time or in the bathtub.”

Gwen even joined Van Buren he went off to college.

It’s not hard to see what Gwendolyn gets out of the arrangement:

Van Buren says the gator eats a steady diet of pizza and snackfood, such as Chips Ahoy! cookies.

(Check out the clip above to see Gwen devour a few slices. You’ll instantly feel better about your own eating habits.)

Unfortunately, that diet has resulted in one gargantuan gator.

Gwendolyn has reached over 13 feet in length, a fact that recently led Florida Fish and Wildlife authorities to inform Van Buren that he’s too big to be kept as a pet.

Van Buren fought the court order to turn Gwendolyn over to the authorities and because sometimes things work out in this world (and this is Florida) it looks like he’ll win his case.

The Fish and Wildlife Department has reportedly agreed with Van Buren’s argument that the best outcome for Gwendolyn would be continuing to live in an enclosure in Van Buren’s backyard.

We don’t see how anyone who’s seen his diet could disagree.

View Slideshow: Florida Man: Strange Sunshine State Stories

Florida Man Found in Gator, Cause of Death Unclear

Police in Lakeland, Florida are currently investigating the death of a man found in the mouth of an eight-foot alligator Tuesday.

Sgt. Gary Gross, who responded to the scene at Lake Hunter, says he saw the animal with what appeared to be a human in its mouth.

“He rolled a few times in the water and then let go [of the body] and swam off,” Gross says, describing the gruesome Florida scene.

Members of the Lakeland P.D. then recovered the body of a white male that “appeared to have been in the water for more than a day.”

It is unknown if the victim died from an actual alligator attack or from other, unrelated causes prior to the discovery of the body.

“He could have been in the water for days but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been an alligator attack from three days ago,”

Gross explains also that for the animals, “it’s mating season down here and the alligators can store their food for some time.”

Detectives are currently combing the scene for identifying evidence, and a gator trapper has been dispatched to try to catch the animal.

“They’re on the scene right now,” Gross says.

“Trying to catch the alligator so that they can examine the contents of its stomach and see if there’s any human remains in it.”

Gross says there are no open missing persons cases in the area that match the victim’s description so the investigation is ongoing.

Because there is no open case, discovering the victim’s identity and cause and cause of death will now fall to the medical examiner.

View Slideshow: Florida Man: Strange Sunshine State Stories

Florida Burglar Hides in Gator Lake, Gets Eaten By Gator

File this one under “pure, uncut Florida.”

A Florida man was doing Florida things (committing crimes), when he ran afoul of Florida cops and made the ill-fated decision to hide in a Florida lake known for its dense population of alligators. 

Yes, you know where this is going, but we assure you, the rest of the story is worth your time.

22-year-old Matthew Riggins and a friend were burglarizing homes in the Barefoot Bay community of Southeast Florida when cops arrived on the scene and began to search the area.

Riggins – a Florida man if ever there was one – decided to try and evade authorities by hiding in a nearby lake.

Unfortunately, what he saw as an opportunity for escape, an 11-foot gator saw as lunchtime.

Riggins’ girlfriend reported him missing, and after a 10-day, they found his less tasty parts scattered around the lake. His hand and foot were found inside the gator.

Officials determined that Riggins was pulled below the surface and drowned, while the gator reportedly suffered severe indigestion.

A resident who was interviewed by a local news station summed the situation up perfectly when she said, “He hid in the wrong place.”

We can only hope that’ll be the inscription on Riggins’ tombstone.

Sadly, if Riggins had only tried attack the cops with their own badges or attempt to tickle his way out of the situation like Florida men before him, this story may not have had such a grisly ending.

As it is, Riggins can rest easy knowing he’s earned a place in the Florida Man Hall of Fame:

View Slideshow: Florida Man: Strange Sunshine State Stories