Officials with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office continued its search Wednesday morning for a young child who was dragged into the water by an alligator near Walt Disney World.
According to the sheriff’s office, the 2-year-old was dragged into the Seven Seas Lagoon, a man-made lake, near Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on Tuesday around 9:30 p.m. local time.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the family was vacationing from Nebraska with three children. The family was relaxing on the shoreline when the alligator suddenly attacked the toddler.
The gator is estimated to be between four and seven feet long.
Police putting up yellow tape outside of The Grand Floridian directly across from Magic Kingdom in Orlando... pic.twitter.com/yBQc3r4hcG
— ChristianTheMagician (@Menardness) June 15, 2016
Demings explained that the boy's father entered the water and tried to grab him from the gator, but was unsuccessful. He walked away with scratches on his hands.
His parents then alerted a nearby lifeguard of the incident.
By 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, police -- who put crime-scene tape around the water -- still had not found signs of the victim or gator.
A helicopter hovered over the Victorian-style hotel while officials with Reedy Creek Fire Rescue, Orange County and the Florida Fish and Wildlife officials assisted in the search.
A dive team with sonar equipment was reportedly on standby.
The hotel, one of three on the monorail line, is an upscale luxury resort owned by Disney and located right next to the Magic Kingdom Park.
It wasn't immediately clear if the missing child was a guest at the hotel.
While there are no signs warning of gators, there are notices posted against swimming in the lake.
The incident is just the latest heartbreaking event to hit the city of Orlando in the last week, coming on the heels of a nightclub shooting that left 49 people dead, as well as the shooting death of singer and former "Voice" contestant Christina Grimmie.
