A float ran over and killed a costumed Disney worker during a Magic Kingdom parade Wednesday, park officials and police said.

Javier Cruz, 38, a father of two and an eight-year Disney veteran, was playing Pluto in the daily afternoon parade.

"Javier was a Disney character even when he wasn't working," said his sister, Wanda Marin, 36, of Orlando. "I used to call him a wingless angel."

About 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, he was at work, in a backstage area near Frontierland about to enter the public area of the park when the accident was witnessed by a handful of his co-workers.

"We think very few guests saw it, if any," said park spokesman Bill Warren.

Disney released few details about the death Wednesday night, citing ongoing investigations by the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

An Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman, Deputy Carlos Torres, said the death appeared to be accidental.

The afternoon "Share a Dream Come True" parade is a favorite of guests at Disney's signature Orlando theme park, featuring large floats resembling "snow globes" and dozens of costumed characters.

Cruz began work at Disney as a custodian in 1995, and eventually began wearing costumes, silently interacting with guests.

Before playing Pluto, he performed in the Lion King show and portrayed the character of Eeyore at the park, friends and family said.

On Wednesday, he was dressed as Pluto near the end of the parade line and was about to pass through a gate into public view near Splash Mountain when the float struck him.

Floats and characters that left the backstage area before the accident continued down the parade route toward Main Street, U.S.A., Warren said, but floats and characters behind Cruz did not.

Marin, his sister, said someone who worked with her brother told her that he tripped in front of the float and there wasn't enough time for him to move.

'IT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE'

"We believe it could have been prevented. I believe they should have kept a distance between him as a character and the float," she said.

"OK, it's an accident, but it's not acceptable. They should have prevented this."

Cruz, who lived with his mother at the Mystic Pointe apartments near Disney, was the father of two children, a 14-year-old boy, Javier Jr., and a 12-year-old girl, Jasmine. Both children live with their mother, Cruz's ex-wife, in Kissimmee.

Cruz's mother, Irene Gonzalez, 65, was taken to an area hospital with blood pressure problems after learning of her son's death.

LIKE AN OLDER BROTHER

Family and friends said Cruz was a fun-loving clown, always willing to help out a fellow Disney cast member in need.

Megan Long, who sometimes played Winnie the Pooh with Cruz's Eeyore said younger cast members considered him an older brother.

"If you had a problem, he would take care of you, no questions asked," said Long, a former Disney employee now living in Nevada.

Long, who said she also played other characters, said the bulky head pieces make it difficult to navigate around the large floats.

"Sometimes, it's tough to see when the sun is glaring right on you," she said.

In 1999 another Disney employee died in a fall from the Magic Kingdom's Skyway ride. OSHA fined the resort $4,500 for what it called a "serious" violation of safety standards.

The 65-year-old employee was swept from the Fantasyland Skyway loading platform by a moving gondola. He fell about 40 feet.