FLORIDA, United States (Reuters) — Orange County deputies continued the search for the two-year-old boy, who was dragged by an alligator into the water near the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa on Tuesday (June 14), officials said during a news conference.
The child was playing in the water on a beach when the alligator attacked, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
He described the alligator as between four and seven feet (1.21 meters – 2.13 meters) long.
“We’ll be out throughout the night or the morning, if you will, continuing this search until we are able to have a peaceful, a successful resolution I should say for the family. The family here is vacationing from Nebraska. There’s a mother and a father and I believe three children who are here. And so for that family we are very hopeful that we’re able to locate the child in a reasonable period of time,” Demings said.
A helicopter and boats were searching for the child at Seven Seas Lagoon with more than 50 law enforcement officers brought into the area, Demings said.
The Florida state Fish and Wildlife Commission said it was also searching and had a trapper looking for the alligator, NBC reported.