Disney alligator attack: Animal drags 2-year-old into water at Florida resort

After searching overnight, rescue workers have still not found the boy

(Gregg Newton/AFP/Getty Images)

The body of a 2-year-old Nebraska boy has been found by Florida officials on Wednesday more than 15 hours after the toddler was attacked by an alligator at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando.

A source close to the investigation told CNN that the boy’s body has been recovered after he was attacked in the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Grand Floridian resort around 9pm on Tuesday night.

More than 50 deputies are searching to rescue the child on Wednesday morning.

"The sad reality of it is it's been several hours, and we're not likely going to recover a live body," Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said at a news conference.

Boats equipped with sonar equipment failed to find any alligators with signs of evidence they were involved in the attack. Officials have euthanized four alligators in the search.

“We’ve already taken four alligators and looked at four alligators and couldn’t find any evidence that they were involved,” Nick Wiley, spokesman at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said at the news conference. “They had to be euthanized to be analyzed.”

The boy’s father also made an attempt to rescue his son, suffering minor scratches on his hand from the failed attempt.

"Just overheard a group talking about how the father was wrestling with he alligator," one witness wrote on Twitter. "This just gets worse and worse."

As the three hour search party continued, fireworks went off in the resort, even as helicopters circled the resort's Seven Seas Lagoon.

AJ Jain said that he and his family were playing on the beach near the incident on Tuesday night.

“I’m just here to say a prayer,” Jain told the Orlando Sentinel. “I can’t imagine what those parents are going through. It’s been one tough week in Orlando.”

Authorities have scheduled a press conference for early Wednesday morning.