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The body of a two-year-old boy who was snatched by an alligator Tuesday evening at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., has been recovered, according to Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings.

Divers found the boy's intact body around 1:45 p.m. — 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 attempts to save the child.

Authorities were able to remove the body from the water around 3:30 p.m., Demings told reporters at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Demings identified the boy's parents as Matt and Melissa Graves, and their son as Lane Graves, of Omaha, Neb.

Demings, along with a Catholic priest, informed the parents that the body of their son had been recovered.

"The family was distraught," said Demings. "But also, I believe, somewhat relieved that we were able to find their son with his body intact."

The boy's body was found near where he was snatched, said Demings.

"It took some time to go through and make certain. The waters are kind of murky, but our divers were able to locate the body," said Demings.

"But it's likely no question in my mind that the child was drowned by the alligator."

He added that the boy's body was found about 10 to 15 metres out in about two metres of water.

Wildlife officials earlier caught and killed five alligators from the lagoon to examine them for traces of the boy, said Nick Wiley, head of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Boats, divers and a helicopter were used in the search on Wednesday. Divers found the boy about six feet deep in the water, and near to where he was taken by the alligator. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/Associated Press)

Wiley said there is a "good chance" one of those alligators was involved, but forensics will help to determine for sure.

"We'll go through the process and forensics and make certain. If we can't get a certain match, we'll continue to go out and look for alligators to make sure we've done everything we can and all the due diligence to make sure we take the alligator out," added Wylie.

Police used boats, divers and a helicopter on Wednesday to search for the boy.

Demings and Wylie said the investigation is continuing. They said they will look at what happened to prevent such incidents in the future.

'Stunned and heartbroken'

The family lives in an upscale neighbourhood in the Omaha community of Elkhorn.

The boy's father suffered lacerations to his hand trying to save his son from the gator.

He is chief data officer for Infogroup, a marketing company based in Papillion, Neb., whose chairman Michael Iaccarino said he's "stunned and heartbroken" over the "family's unspeakable loss."

He added: "Matt's family is the light of his life, and his family's anguish is our own."

Search turned into recovery effort

The boy had been wading in the shallow water at the edge of the lake at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World around 9 p.m. Tuesday night as his parents sat nearby. The gator appears to have pulled the boy into the water and drowned him, said Demings.

The alligator involved is believed to be between 1.2 and 2 metres long.

There were signs that said "No Swimming" where the boy was attacked, but there were no signs warning of alligators.

A lifeguard was on duty, but did not arrive on the scene in time to help, according to Williamson.

Demings wouldn't comment Wednesday afternoon on whether there was adequate signage in the area. A Disney representative said the company would "thoroughly review the situation for the future."

Demings said Disney has never had anything like this happen in 45 years of operations. He said the theme park's wildlife management system works diligently to keep guests safe from dangerous creatures, removing or killing any alligators they find.

Disney has said that it does patrol for alligators regularly, and it euthanizes those found.

This image taken from video provided courtesy of WKMG in Florida shows an area near where an alligator dragged a two-year-old boy into the water Tuesday night. (WKMG via AP)

Attacks 'very rare'

Though alligators are relatively common throughout Florida, attacks against humans are rare, according to Wiley.

"Millions of people enjoy Florida safely. But you have to be aware and you have to be careful," he told reporters.

The water from where the boy was taken is only about 30 centimetres deep.

All Disney resort beaches and recreational marinas in the area are closed and, in a statement, the company said it is "devastated" by the attack.

"Our thoughts are with the family. We are helping the family and doing everything we can to assist law enforcement," Disney said.

Last week, the body of a 72-year-old man was recovered from an alligator in Lakeland, Fla., about 70 kilometres southwest of Orlando.

It was unclear if the man drowned or was killed by the reptile.

Demings said there have been no other recent reports of similar alligator attacks at the lake near Disney.