Alligator ‘bit boy’s head’ during Disney world attack

A guest at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort saw an alligator looming in the area where 2-year-old Lane Graves was playing. and she even sounded the alarm to someone at the hotel.

The FWC’s report concludes Graves did nothing to provoke the alligator, believing the alligator had a “diminished fear of humans”, and that it was a “predatory attack”.

“We will exclusively be focused on the future health of our family and will not be pursuing a lawsuit against Disney”, the statement said.

Separately, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office released its report on the death.

“There are no words to describe the profound sadness we feel for the family of Lane Graves”, FWC executive director Nick Wiley said soon after the tragedy.

Officials also said they are “confident” that one of the gators they captured was “very likely” the killer, but “cannot say with absolute certainty that the subject animal has been taken”. The girls saw an alligator near a marsh about five feet from the beach. The report also indicated that during the warm summer months the gator’s drive for food would be stronger. The family then went to a nearby store.

A final report on Lane Graves’ death released by Florida’s wildlife agency said the boy died from a crushing bite and drowning.

Tourist Alfred Smith said he photographed the alligator from his hotel room balcony about an hour and a half before the attack. It was the first fatal unprovoked alligator attack in the 66 years that records have been kept in Orange County, Florida.

Although the Grave family has since stressed they do not plan to sue Walt Disney World, many are upset the resort did not have signs at the time to warn tourists of unsafe animals. Matt Graves, who was a few feet away, heard a splash, which he thought was a fish. After his two-year-old son, Lane was dragged into a lake by an alligator, Matt had to tell authorities what happened. “The alligator thrashed and broke Matt’s grasp and went under the water”. He heard someone yelling, “Get out of the water!” and saw Lane’s parents looking for him.

The findings came in the final report on the incident from the state commission, which also said several other visitors to the park alerted Disney employees about the presence of alligators minutes before the attack. No animal DNA was found on the victim’s wounds to allow for a match to any of the gators.