Associated Press
Emergency dispatchers received two 911 calls moments after an alligator dragged a 2-year-old boy into Walt Disney World’s Seven Seas Lagoon.
The first came from the “drop phone” at a nearby lifeguard stand, and no voice could be heard.
The second, about four minutes long, was made by a woman who did not witness the attack, said spokesman Tim O’Toole at the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which handles calls at Disney World and released the audio recordings on Tuesday.
“Come to the Grand Floridian please,” the woman says. “Someone’s drowning in the Seven Seas Lagoon.”
The dispatcher asks if she means a pool.
“No, lake,” she replies.
The dispatcher tells her to stay on the line while he answers another call, then returns a few seconds later.
“Do you see the person right now?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Was someone being pulled out of the lake?”
“Yes.”
The dispatcher says authorities have no information, and asks if she could see the person pulling the boy out.
“No,” because she’s on the phone, she says.
The dispatcher then asks her to get closer to the lake and call back from a cell phone.
“We are on our way right now,” he says.
Rescue crews arrived shortly thereafter, but it would take more than 15 hours to recover the body of Lane Gray. He was found in murky water, just yards from the beach where he had been wading.
The child will be buried on Tuesday in Nebraska. The family’s home is in Omaha.
Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
