Divers recovered the body of Lane Graves on Wednesday (June 15) afternoon, following an extensive 16-hour search involving a number of emergency personnel.
According to authorities the body was found "intact" after being pulled from the water at the Seven Seas Lagoon near to Walt Disney World in Orlando.
The child, from Nebraska, was relaxing near the shore of the lagoon with his family on Tuesday (June 14) evening when the incident happened.
Graves’ father suffered lacerations to his arm as he tried to stop his son being dragged into the water by the creature.
Jeff Williamson, spokesperson for the Orange County sheriff’s office, said there was “no indication” Graves or his family had been swimming at the time of the attack.
“It is tragic. It is heartbreaking. There’s no other way to say it,” he added.
Orange County sheriff Jerry Demings told a press conference that Disney officials had done “everything they could to make the family comfortable during this ordeal.”
The lagoon currently has no signs around the lagoon to warn visitors about the presence of alligators, but a spokesperson for Disney told Reuters it would be reviewing this.
A spokesperson for the theme park business announced that the beaches at all resorts on its property were closing “out of an abundance of caution” until it was confirmed the alligator was captured, the Guardian said.
