- Frantic father tried to wrestle reptile as it grabbed toddler off beach at flagship Grand Floridian resort in Orlando
A two-year-old boy is missing after he was dragged into a lagoon by an alligator at a Disney World resort in Orlando - despite his father's frantic attempts to wrestle his son from the reptile's jaws.
The family was relaxing on the beach at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa around 9.20pm on Tuesday when the child was snatched by the animal and pulled into the Seven Seas Lagoon.
Alligators are a relatively common sight at the Walt Disney World resort but are removed when they reach four foot and get too near to guest areas.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the boy, who was part of a family of five arrived in Orlando on vacation from Nebraska on Sunday.
He told a news conference early this morning that the parents and their three children had been relaxing on the beach at the time of the attack in an area where 'no swimming' signs were posted.
Demings said: 'The father entered the water and tried to grab the child but he was not successful in doing so. I'm told that at some point, the mother also entered the water.'
He said that the family had been relaxing on the beach, where a 'movie night' was underway and the child had been in a play pen.
Later, as the child played waded in about one foot of water with his mother, the alligator - believed to be anywhere between four and seven feet long - attacked.
'As they waded into the water along the lake's edge at the time, that's when the alligator attacked,' he said.
He added that the family alerted a nearby lifeguard but they were not able to save the boy. The father was left with scratches after the ordeal.
'We are not leaving until we recover the child,' Demings added, saying there were more than 50 law enforcement personnel who are actively searching the lake.
'As a father, as a grandfather, we are going to hope for the best in these circumstances but based on my 35 years of experience, we know that we have some challenges ahead,' he said.
Demings said there had been no other recent reports of similar alligator attacks on the lake.
'We have no record of this happening before,' he added.
Asked about the recent tragedies that have rocked Orlando in recent days, including the murder of singer Christina Grimmie after a concert and a massacre at Pulse nightclub that left 49 people dead at the hands of a lone gunman, Demings replied: 'Our staff are very resilient.'
'They are very focused, if you will, on assisting this family,' he added.
A spokeswoman for Disney also spoke at the conference, saying: 'Everyone here at Walt Disney World is devastated by this tragic accident.
'Our thoughts are with the family. We are doing everything we can to help law enforcement.'
Chad Weber, with Florida Fish and Wildlife, said that the agency had sent alligator trappers to aid the operation.
'We would like to express thoughts and prayers to the family at this time,' he said. 'We will be here until the child is found.'
In a statement issued late on Tuesday night, Orange County Sheriff's Office's spokeswoman Rose Silva said the Sheriff's Office received a call about an emergency at the scene at 9.21pm.
Florida Fish and Wildlife, Reedy Creek Fire Rescue and the Sheriff's Office responded and a search and recovery operation for the child is underway, she said.
Shortly afterwards, authorities were pictured sealing off the area with crime-scene tape and searching the water by helicopter and by boat.
Late on Tuesday night, a man named Christian wrote on Twitter: 'Just overheard a group talking about how the father was wrestling with the alligator. This just gets worse and worse.'
He said that there was a 'movie night' on the beach on Tuesday night, which is where the alligator may have attacked the toddler before dragging the child into the lagoon.
Guests were all asked to leave a hotel balcony overlooking the area by staff, he added.
Others said the family had been watching the Wishes fireworks spectacular, which starts at 9pm and runs for more than 12 minutes, at the time of the reported attack.
A hotel spokesman declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail Online.
Christal Hayes, a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, wrote on Twitter: 'A lot of the crowd says the boy was on a beach area along the Seven Seas Lagoon when he was dragged in. No eye witnesses, though.'
'I'm just here to say a prayer,' AJ Jain, 51, who is on holiday from Georgia, told Hayes.
'I can't imagine what those parents are going through. It's been one tough week in Orlando.'
The Grand Floridian Resort is one of three luxury hotels located along the lagoon's edge. It is a stop away from Magic Kingdom Park on the monorail line.
It is not known if the child or his family are guests at the hotel, where prices were standard rooms start from $569 per night.
Alligators are understood to be fairly common on Walt Disney World property as the resort lies in the middle of Florida's swamp land.
It is understood that if alligators larger than four feet in size are found, they are caught and relocated to an area close to the resort called Gator Alley.
But as alligators are often considered as shy creatures, they can be extremely hard to round-up and it is not unheard of for them to be spotted on golf courses at Walt Disney World.
According to the blog Hidden Mickeys, one guest was waterskiing on the Seven Seas Lagoon several years ago when he dove in to cool off.
When he asked the boat driver if there were any gators in the water, he replied 'Yep, we pulled an eight footer out last week!'
The guest was assured that they are generally timid and scared of boats and metal screening is installed before the shorelines to prevent any of them from getting into the swimming areas or resort shores.
Source: Daily Mail UK
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