death by wildlife

[Duchess]

So awful, awful, awful. It gave me goosebumps reading about it. I hope his parents have been able to find a way to live with this. That sounds so trite, I know. The horror of it makes me want to cry :(

The 2-year-old Nebraska boy killed by an alligator at a Walt Disney World hotel in June died after a series of events that would have been difficult to prevent, according to a report that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission released Monday.

The report's findings include:

• The alligator that killed Lane Thomas Graves took him in a predatory manner consistent with the reptile's hunting techniques. The boy was standing in ankle-deep water while he fetched buckets of water for a sand castle he was building. Neither the boy nor his family did anything provocative.

• The family was by the lagoon near the hotel around 8:30 p.m., during gator hunting time, to watch the movie "Zootopia" on the beach.

• The alligator took Lane when he bent down. Matt Graves, the father, tried to pry open the gator's mouth that was clamped on his son's head and neck, but the animal broke away.

• A South Carolina tourist spotted the alligator from his hotel porch about 45 minutes before the attack. He said he pointed out the animal to a Disney employee. Just before the attack, he saw children in the ankle-deep water and was going out the door to warn them when he heard the mother screaming.

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