Lane Graves, the 2-year-old boy who died after being dragged off by an alligator at a Disney resort on Tuesday, perished as the result of drowning and traumatic injuries, the Orange County, Florida, medical examiner’s office said Thursday.
The determination was made following an autopsy conducted on Graves on Thursday afternoon.
Graves, whose family was visiting from Nebraska, was carried off by an alligator in the lagoon at Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian resort on Tuesday.
His body was found on Wednesday.
In response to the attack, Disney closed all beaches on its resort properties in the area. Authorities had trapped and euthanized four alligators to determine if any of them were involved in the attack.
“There are no words to convey the profound sorrow we feel for the family and their unimaginable loss,” said Walt Disney World Resort president George Kalogridis in a statement. “We are devastated and heartbroken by this tragic accident and are doing what we can to help them during this difficult time. On behalf of everyone at Disney, we offer them our deepest sympathy.”
As reported exclusively by TheWrap on Wednesday, the Walt Disney World Resort was aware of an ongoing problem of guests feeding alligators and had ignored staff requests to put protective fences in place.