“There is no doubt in my mind the child was drowned by the alligator,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said during a live press conference.
Twitter was soon flooded with messages of condolence for the little boy’s family.
However former Celebrity Big Brother contestant Jasmine Waltz has sparked outrage after sharing a ‘vile’ joke about his death.
Taking to Twitter, the 32-year-old shared a snap of a smiling child posing with a crochet blanket in the shape of an alligator.
The image was emblazoned with the words “New Disney Blankets”.
Clearly realising it was an inappropriate post (particularly as the giggling child looks like he’s being ‘eaten’ by the blanket), Jasmine decided to ask her fans if her joke had come “too soon?”
And they were, understandably, not impressed.
One wrote: "Are you sick in the head? A poor baby lost his life in such a horrific way and you think it's ok to make jokes?"
Another added: "You're disgusting and vile to think this is appropriate."
"Disgusting!!! We're talking about a poor 2 year old boys horrible death here!” ranted another.
Many suggested that Jasmine would feel differently about the joke if she was a mother herself.
However some pointed out that the former cocktail waitress does have a little boy herself.
Jasmine has yet to respond to the outcry her tweet has caused.
According to multiple reports, Lane Graves had been wading in shallow water alongside his parents at the Seven Seas Lagoon, which is based near Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
At around 9.20pm ET on Tuesday, an alligator launched out of the water and snatched the child.
His father and mother both waded into the lagoon in a desperate bid to wrestle their son back, but, tragically, their efforts came to no avail.
A spokeswoman for Walt Disney, meanwhile, gave a short statement to the press on behalf of the resort.
She said: “Our thoughts are with the family, and we are helping the family and doing everything we can to assist law enforcement.”
She added that they are “devastated” by the “tragic accident”.
The park have since instated temporary barriers to prevent any further alligator attacks in their parks.
They are also working on a long-term solution to the problem.
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