BREAKING NEWS: Video Shows Manhunt For Suspect Hiding On Disney World Island
We’ve got some interesting insights into the arrest that was made earlier this year of a man found trespassing on the abandoned Discovery Island at Walt Disney World Resort.
As we previously mentioned here at MickeyBlog, John McGuire, age 42 was arrested for camping at Disney’s former zoological park while the entire Walt Disney World property was off limits due to the coronavirus pandemic. Deputies searched the ground by water, land and sky trying to find McGuire and while this was going on, McGuire was actually recording videos of himself hiding on the island.
News 6 recently shared some videos of the sheriff’s department arriving on the scene which you can check out below:
McGuire has plead not guilty to trespassing at Disney but could face a maximum of a one year jail sentence if convicted. As you can see from these new videos taken from the deputies’ body cameras, the manhunt took place across the 11-acre island which was once home to animal exhibits, walking trails and even a refreshment stand. The park can only be reached by boat and has been closed to the public since 1999.
Wildlife trail cameras are used for surveillance on the island which captured an image of a man trespassing at 7:00 am on April 30th. Around that time, videos were posted to McGuire’s YouTube channel indicating that he got there about 11 pm the night before using a small boat.
An hour before Disney was aware of McGuire’s presence, he shared a video on YouTube of him drying off his boots on a fire he created inside one of the shelters on the island. In the video, McGuire can be heard saying, “You guys, if you all ever do this, be respectful to the next people who are explorers,” McGuire said on the YouTube video. “If you have a fire, make sure you put it out the next day. I’ve been doing this since 2004 and I’ve never caught anything on fire.”
After McGuire was discovered on the island, deputies headed out via boat around 8 a.m to search the island.
In the footage above, you can see the deputies holding guns as they search for the trespasser in and amongst the island’s decaying buildings and trails. “He’s got to be somewhere here,” one deputy said as she realized more law enforcement officers would be needed to cover the island.
As News 6 points out, a few hours later, three teams of deputies showed up at the Island via boat in order to search the property with the assistance of a helicopter flying overhead.
It took deputies over an hour with one deputy joking on camera, “This is the best game of hide-and-seek ever,” one deputy joked. Ultimately the deputies on the ground gave up their search leaving it up to officers in the helicopter and on shore to locate the suspect.
8pm that evening, officers returned to the scene when McGuire was seen trying to leave the area on a motorboat. McGuire was arrested on the scene. They eventually found McGuire’s girlfriend with a getaway van telling officers that they were there to shoot videos for their YouTube channel. As of going to print, McGuire’s case is still being prosecuted.
He also received a lifetime ban from visiting Walt Disney World to which McGuire said, “Luckily, I’ve already taken my daughter Disney World before I got a life ban.”