Searchers find body of toddler Lane Graves, attacked by alligator at Disney World and dragged into lagoon

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Searchers look for the remains of two-year-old Lane Graves, who was dragged into a lagoon at Disney World in Orlando on Tuesday, June 14. The boy's body was found the next day. Photos: Tribune News Service / NBC

Published: 9:22am, 16 Jun 2016Updated: 9:22am, 16 Jun 2016

The body of a two-year-old Nebraska boy who was snatched off a Walt Disney World beach by an alligator and dragged into a lagoon was recovered Wednesday, ending a ghastly search at one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations.

Divers found the body of Lane Graves about 16 hours after authorities first got the call that a reptile had taken the boy from the water’s edge at Seven Seas Lagoon despite his father’s frantic attempt to save the child.

Sheriff Jerry Demings said it appeared the gator pulled the child into deeper water and drowned him, leaving the body near the spot where he was last seen. An autopsy was planned.

“Of course the family was distraught, but also I believe somewhat relieved that his body was found intact,” Demings told a news conference.

An alligator swims in the waters at Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach, Florida. Photo: AFP

The boy’s parents were identified as Matt and Melissa Graves of Elkhorn, Nebraska, a suburban area of Omaha. A family friend released a statement on behalf of the couple thanking well-wishers for their “thoughts and hope-filled prayers.”

CEO Michael Iaccarino of Infogroup, a marketing company where Matt Graves is chief data officer, said Grave’s family “is the light of his life.”