LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Orange County sheriff announced that the body of the 2-year-old boy dragged into a lagoon Tuesday night by an alligator near the upscale Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World was found Wednesday afternoon.
Sheriff Jerry Demings said the body of Lane Graves was found by a dive team using sonar in about 6 feet of water about 1:45 p.m.
"I will share with you that the child was found body was completely intact," Demings said. "At this time we will go through the formality of making a formal Identification. There is no reason for you to believe that the body that was recovered is not that of Lane Graves."
Lane is the son of Matt and Melissa Graves who were visiting from Elkhorn, Nebraska. The family told Demings that they appreciated the efforts of the search team and prays of the community.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission spokesman said efforts would continue to identify the alligator that pulled the body into the water either by forensics of the five alligators trappers took from the lake during the 18-hour search, or by continued efforts.
"There's a good chance we already have the alligator," FWC spokesman Nick Wiley, who added they are "terribly heartbroken at this outcome," and will learn from this to make sure it never happens again.
Disney closed beaches Wednesday at their resorts "in an abundance of caution."
The family of five from Elkhorn, Nebraska was on vacation and wading in the Seven Seas Lagoon about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday when the child was taken by an alligator, estimated to be between 4 feet and 7 feet long, from an area where "no swimming" signs were posted, Demings told a news conference early Wednesday.
The grim news is the latest for a city hammered with tragedy in the past few days. On Sunday, a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, leaving 49 people dead in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. On Friday night, Christina Grimmie, 22, a contestant on season six of "The Voice," was killed as she signed autographs after a show in Orlando.
Wiley said the alligators will be cut open and their remains examined after they are euthanized.
"We have experienced trappers who know how to find alligators. We're still hopeful we'll help this family find closure," Wiley said.
The beach area is part of the luxury Grand Floridian resort, across the lake from Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park. The man-made lake stretches about 200 acres and reaches a depth of 14 feet. Called the Seven Seas Lagoon, the lake feeds into a series of canals that wind through the entire Disney property.
"Disney has operated here for 45 years and they've never had this thing happen before," Demings said.
Disney has full-time staff that works with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"Disney has been proactive. They have an open system permit where whenever they see an alligator, they can be taken out," said Wiley. "Disney does everything by the book. They have an amazing program for monitoring and addressing concerns."
More than 50 law enforcement personnel searched the well-tended lagoon along with an alligator tracker and two marine units. Williamson said more personnel were being brought in Wednesday to offer some "fresh eyes" for the search.
After the body was found, the Greater Omaha, Nebraska, Chamber of Commerce sent a statement consoling the family, whose father served on the organization's board.
"The loss of a child is a special kind of tragedy, particularly hard to comprehend. Our thoughts and our prayers are with the Graves family during this time of unthinkable sadness," Chamber president and CEO, David Brown, said. "We stand ready to assist him, his wife and family as they grieve the loss of Lane."
Alligators thrive in Florida; occasionally encounter humans
More than a million alligators live throughout Florida, though the species remains listed as an endangered species because it closely resembles the endangered American crocodile.
Though Florida has grown to the third-most populous state, fatal alligator attacks remain rare. There have been 23 fatalities caused by wild alligators in Florida since 1973, according to data compiled by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Those fatalities were among 383 unprovoked bites not caused by someone handling or intentionally harassing an alligator.
Eight children, ages 2 to 16, are among the fatalities. Five died while swimming in lakes, rivers and canals. The youngest victims were killed near lakes, including a 2-year-old girl who wandered 700 feet from her fenced backyard and a 3-year-old boy who left a roped-off swimming area in a county park to pick lily pads.
MORE: FWC data on alligator bites on people
Williamson said the Nebraska boy was at the edge of the water, probably about a foot or two into the water, when the alligator attacked. The water was dark Tuesday night as searchers looked for the boy, he said.
Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahaler said everyone at the resort was devastated by what happened and Disney is helping the family.
Minnesota residents John and Kim Aho, visiting Disney with their 12-year-old son Johnny, were stunned to hear what had happened to the child.
"We have been to Yellowstone and encountered grizzly bears, but this is just freaky," John Aho said.
Kim Aho said their son is leery of the water around the park.
"He's a little freaked out about the gator," she said.
The sheriff said there had been no other recent reports of similar alligator attacks on the lake.
The wildlife commission said eight of the 15 adults killed by alligators had been swimming in freshwater bodies of water, including a 36-year-old man swimming across a pond while trying to elude police. One 54-year-old woman was seized by an alligator while landscaping near a pond, and an 82-year-old man was killed while walking his dog on a path between two wetland areas.
Alligators are opportunistic feeders that will eat what is readily available and easily overpowered. It's illegal to feed wild alligators because that causes them to lose their fear of humans. According to wildlife commission biologists, alligators seldom bite people for reasons other than food.
Wildlife commission statistics show Florida averages about seven serious unprovoked bites a year, and the frequency of these bites is rising. However, the likelihood of someone being seriously injured by an unprovoked alligator in Florida is roughly one in 2.4 million.