Years ago, in San Francisco a couple said their son was kidnapped. The local TV news went to their house to interview the couple. They gave a tearful and heartfelt interview pleading for the return of their son. It turns out a day or so later the police found the dead kid in a suitcase in their closet. The child had been murdered by them and was there in the closet when the TV interviewers were there.
This could very well be a tragic accident, but I'm not convinced yet (maybe I've been watching too many reruns of Colombo.) From the reports I've heard, it was "movie night" near that area where the water is, and the family was just returning from the movie. That being the case, I would think there would also be a number of other people in the area as well. As i said earlier, I haven't heard anything about other eyewitnesses. Also, since there's always the possibility that alligators could slip into the water there from other locations, I would think that Disney would maintain some type of surveillance given the number of people visiting their resort on a daily basis. The body was found intact (others here have said that's not unusual), but were there any teeth marks/puncture wounds on the body? Lastly, they will undoubtedly check to see if there is an insurance policy on the child. Whichever way this turns out, it's a very tragic situation.
News reports talked of comparing bite marks with several gators authorities have killed. So, the child had to have bites from the creature.
From the comments here we’ve learned that gators can 1) be hundreds of yards from water 2) move very quickly. The family could have been walking with their son toddling along only to have the gator come out of nowhere.
I can not imagine the horror they are going through now.