The father of the 2-year-old boy who was killed in an alligator attack near Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa told officials a second gator was involved, records show.
In public records released this week, Capt. Tom Wellons with the Reedy Creek Fire Department emailed two supervisors about his interaction with the child’s father, Matt Graves, the morning after Lane Graves went missing.
Wellons said he was examining Matt Graves’ injuries early on the morning of June 15 and told him he needed stitches and antibiotics since he had lacerations from the gator’s teeth.
Wellons said Graves “refused to leave” the area, but he was finally able to persuade him and told him he could come back after getting medical treatment, an email shows.
“This incredibly sweet couple insisted on showing us pictures of their happy son. [The] mom kept referring to him as her ‘happy boy,’ ” Wellons wrote.
He said on the way to the hospital, Graves shared “the horror that he experienced” as his son was being pulled into the water and “how another gator attacked him as he fought for his son,” Wellons wrote in the email.
Assistant Chief Stan Paynter forwarded the email to Orange County officials to alert them that there may be a second alligator.
In total, five alligators were killed in the 16-hour search for Lane. His body was discovered intact about 15 yards from the shore, six feet underwater.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office detailed that the family was relaxing by the shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon at the resort, located near the Magic Kingdom park, while Lane splashed along the shoreline.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Angelo Nieves told the Orlando Sentinel Sunday that during initial interviews, a witness also said “he saw a second gator attack the father” as he was fighting with the first one that had his son.
Nieves said this was the only witness to mention a second gator. Nieves said the father did not tell the Sheriff’s Office of a second gator.
There were signs posted in the area that advise against swimming but the signs did not warn of gators.
Three days after the tragedy Disney raised fencing around the lake at that and other lakefront resorts and announced signs would be posted reading “Danger! Alligators and snakes in area. Stay away from the water. Do not feed the wildlife.”
chayes@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5493
