Found Deceased FL - Lane Graves, 2, Walt Disney World, 14 June 2016 #1

[CoverMeCagney]

Oh gosh this is just horrible and my heart goes out to his family.

And to Orlando / Florida, too. It's been a gut churningly tragic week over there.

 

[Canadian4]

Can't alligators come out of the water? If its not safe to swim surely its not safe to be on the sand. Better signage needed but probably not good for business to tell people they can't access the beach.
My heart goes out to the family. This is about as horrific as it gets.

Sorry Strange world, I see you said the same thing about the beach.

 

[Karinna]

This is so horrible. What a terrible tragedy for a family and their children that were probably having a lovely holiday together until this nightmare happened. I just can't imagine what they're going through right now

Just a question, have there ever been any previous sightings of alligators at that beach? Is it a man made beach there for Disney or a natural one? I know alligators are around the natural lakes in Orlando as i have seen them in the water when living there with my husband. I always thought alligators weren't as aggressive as crocs.
Maybe this is the first time there has ever been any knowledge of an alligator being in the water there, as there have never been any there before, if it fenced off and secured from any gators migrating there from outside of the resort?

 

[Karinna]

Oh gosh this is just horrible and my heart goes out to his family.

And to Orlando / Florida, too. It's been a gut churningly tragic week over there.

Yes it has. I was shocked when i heard this news in Australia, as we were living in Orlando before coming here. My son knew one of the victims through some of his friends in Orlando that he was introduced to a few years ago. A horrific tragedy and i still find it hard to believe.

 

[LLC]

Dear God...what those parents had to witness...Ugh.


Per news conference- they have removed 4 gators & euthanized them to see if they were involved.

Disney removes "nuisance gators" regularly. I've been many times & the signs are small.

 

[Karinna]

Dear God...what those parents had to witness...Ugh.


Per news conference- they have removed 4 gators & euthanized them to see if they were involved.

Disney removes "nuisance gators" regularly. I've been many times & the signs are small.

Thanks for the info. Didn't realise Disney had gators around. Scary!

 

[LLC]

Thanks for the info. Didn't realise Disney had gators around. Scary!

One would think they would get rid of all of them being Disney & all...

I bet that's what the parents thought as well especially being from Nebraska. It's gut wrenching.

 

[Karinna]

One would think they would get rid of all of them being Disney & all...

I bet that's what the parents thought as well especially being from Nebraska. It's gut wrenching.

I agree, i don't think the parents knew there was danger like that lurking at a theme park where they were at. If the dad was in the water with his little boy he could of easily been taken by a gator as well. It would be enough to give you nightmares for sure. It's just so horrible to think it could happen somewhere like Disney.

 

[sonjay]

If they're anything like crocodiles they're just killing machines and will take any opportunity ..

Actually, they're not much like crocs. Crocs are much more aggressive. I live in Florida, and we (the collective we, meaning I and most everyone I know) don't worry much about gators. They generally avoid people. I've gone swimming & waterskiiing in rivers even while we've seen gators around us. With the number of people in and around all the bodies of freshwater, and the number of gators in those bodies of water, it's clear that they don't, as a rule, go after people very often. Hardly ever, in fact.

We do get very angry when we see people feeding gators. That causes them to lose their natural fear of people, and to associate people with food.

Also, we know that pets and small children are much more likely to fall victim to a gator than an adult human being.

Also, gators feed mostly at dusk and at night.

This was a small child, at night.

It wouldn't surprise me if someone somewhere had been feeding that gator. I'm NOT blaming the victim here or saying that child or his family did so. Gators travel around to different bodies of water; it could have been anyone anywhere in the Orlando area. With the number of tourists in that area, who don't understand about not feeding them, it wouldn't surprise me at all if someone had been feeding him.

Sad and tragic for that family. I can't imagine losing a little 2-year-old like that. Heartbreaking.

But not common, at all.

 

[monster12]

One would think they would get rid of all of them being Disney & all...

I bet that's what the parents thought as well especially being from Nebraska. It's gut wrenching.

They end up in people's pools in residential areas. I remember seeing signs at our hotels by the pools or any body of water. When you enter any city, state , country, etc. there are always risks and dangers to be aware of.
Now I'm not sure where this movie was playing in reference to where they were, but it seems odd nobody told them to get out of the water or if workers/others were around. "No swimming " means don't do it. Don't enter the water. Anything could've happened. He could have fell over and floated away, stepped into a hole and went under water, any type of animal could've grabbed his foot. Bottom line is he shouldn't have been in the water no matter how close to the beach or how far out he was. Kids drown in bathtubs so the possibility was there, whether with a parent or not. Although CBS news just said the father was nearby and the family was on the beach, so sounds like the child was alone.

My aunt is down at a nearby resort and said she could see the helicopters searching late last night. [emoji20]

I don't think I blame either party involved although I'm sure by mid day that's all this thread will be. I believe that people should be responsible for common sense in areas they visit and if it states no swimming, especially at 9pm, why would you go in anyways? Swimming shouldn't haven't to be defined to mean different things ( standing in water/wadding/etc). I feel the more they add to signs, the less people are likely to read them anyways. But then again, when I see a beach my first thought, especially if it's warm, is to get into the water. It looks like a very inviting beach area.

Accidents happen but unfortunately at this point in time, it's all about blaming someone and not being an accident anymore.

Guess I'm just talking out loud as I'm
Not sure the right things to say except what a sad week in Orlando.


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[JerseyGirl]

Same here!! The signs are small and sweet, they need to be big and scary like this!

I agree, Disney needs signs like this, not NO SWIMMING. The one they have now with NO SWIMMING is so small, and at dark cannot be seen.

 

[sonjay]

Well I'm laying the blame fair and square at Disney. It's a tourist Mecca, for people that know nothing about gators, aimed at children. And that's the safety precautions they take? :gaah:

I'm not laying any blame on anyone. Sometimes bad things happen, and it's not always someone's fault.

In Florida, if there's a body of water, there's probably at least one gator in it. They hardly ever attack people. Disney could destroy every last gator in Orange County, and within a few days every body of water would have at least one gator in it.

 

[CluelessWonder]

I read that they have five children. Did any of the other four children confirm the story about the gator?

 

[sonjay]

There's no doubt in my mind that there will be much sympathy for parents who can afford a $500+night/hotel and every excuse will be made for why they were in the water (at dark) when signs say to stay out of it. It will be very different from the gorilla zoo incident, where everyone was out for blood.

You mean the gorilla zoo incident where there were lowland gorillas plainly visible, and a fence and several feet of shrubbery, and it was obvious to anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together that entering the gorilla enclosure would be a very bad idea?

Yeah, it's different. Very different. Not because of what the parents can afford, but because of the obvious danger vs the non-obvious danger. I for one expect parents to be much more vigilant when their children are around obvious dangers.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

They're killing gators, 4 dead so far .. Still no sign of the child http://www.news.com.au/world/north-...a/news-story/fd2d0fcd5976673e8da05c754f84ad56 I wish we wouldn't do this EVERY SINGLE TIME!

 

[JerseyGirl]

Here are water sports activities (jet skiing, tubing, wake boarding, etc.) on the waters in WDW.

http://sammyduvall.com/watersports/
http://sammyduvall.com/personal-watercraft/

Doesn't mention anything about ALLIGATORS.

 

[sonjay]

Both deal wth wild animals and possibly negilent parents.

Before the PC, people weren't even speculating the child was in the water. The parents got the benefit of the doubt--that the gorilla snatched the child on land. We know that wasn't true now--the child was in the water--but notice how people made up the craziest possible story to absolve the parents of any responsibility whatsoever?

There are signs and people are still making excuses for them. It's like the McCanns and letting their kids stay unsupervised in a hotel room. Guarnatee if this was a family at some cheap motel somewhere, the response would be much different.

I think you're attributing hateful characteristics to people for which there is no evidence whatsoever.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

If this was a family (imagine if this was a single mother, maybe her boyfriend is with her too for double the freakout) staying at some cheap motel, whose child was killed by a gator in a waterbody on the property, the response would be much different. It may not be comparable to the Cleveland incident (where the mom was dragged through the mud but later exonerated) but the parents would not have every excuse in the book made for them if they weren't at a Disney resort hotel. Nobody would be saying how they couldn't have known there are gators in Florida. Nobody would be making excuses for why they were in the water when it's dark out when signs say not to go in. When the story first broke, people didn't even consider the possibilty the child was in the water when it occured.

I don't understand why you feel this way Eileen. This is a tragic accident and it would be no matter where it occurred. Just because they could afford to stay there doesn't mean they were rich either. They could have saved up for years in order to be able to come to Disney and stay there.

People don't even realize even if the daddy and his son were standing close at the water's edge an alligator has the agility/speed, and strength to suddenly come out of the water and grab the child by his ankle and pull him back down into the water. That has happened in alligator attacks too. Disney had a 'no swimming' sign but I have seen others in that area before 'foot wading' (not swimming) at the water's edge. This time of year it is already humid and hot so people like to wet their feet to cool off. No where does it caution anyone to be aware of alligators.

There have been grown adults that have died being dragged into a body of water by a big gator in Florida. I think they already have at least two deaths this year and I just read the other day about them finding a gator with a human body in its jaws. Yet, there are countless fisherman who night fish in Florida but they know about the gator population and are always mindful of that. Here you have a family from Nebraska and probably looking for an alligator in this area never even crossed their mind. Why would it? There are no signs telling them to beware of alligators roaming free in this area.

This is a heartbreaking case where a daddy did everything in his power to save his little boy and then the mom also tried. I pray for the entire family including their other children especially if they were there and saw all of this. It will forever haunt them.

It shows you can be right there with your child even holding their hand and right out of the blue something horrible can happened and all the lives are changed forever. As many times as I have been to Disney I would have never dreamed this could happen where it did. I am from Georgia and we have huge gators here too as big as the ones Florida has but when they are seen they are in private ponds, lakes, creeks, and rivers.

I am praying for this family and their tremendous loss. Orlando has been the city of tears this past week and have been hit so hard with tragedy after tragedy. God bless them all including this family.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Just because the family was at the Grand Floridian beach doesn't mean that they were staying there. Anyone can go there and watch the movie on the beach. They could have been staying off-site or another Disney hotel.

 

[sonjay]

If this was a family (imagine if this was a single mother, maybe her boyfriend is with her too for double the freakout) staying at some cheap motel, whose child was killed by a gator in a waterbody on the property, the response would be much different. It may not be comparable to the Cleveland incident (where the mom was dragged through the mud but later exonerated) but the parents would not have every excuse in the book made for them if they weren't at a Disney resort hotel. Nobody would be saying how they couldn't have known there are gators in Florida. Nobody would be making excuses for why they were in the water when it's dark out when signs say not to go in. When the story first broke, people didn't even consider the possibilty the child was in the water when it occured.

This isn't about what the parents can afford or how rich they are.

Imagine if this was at a gator park, with gators highly visible everywhere, and the parents negligently allowed their child to go over, under and through several barriers to go into the gator lake on purpose. That would be a comparable incident, and I guarantee there would be people placing blame on the parents regardless of their financial status.