Newly Released Police Video Shows Manhunt for Disney World Discovery Island Trespasser
Courtesy of movieweb.com:
Video footage of the manhunt for the Disney World Discovery Island trespasser has been released. Earlier this year, Richard McGuire was arrested for camping on Disney World’s Discovery Island while the park was entirely shut down. As it turns out, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office was not messing around when they got a tip that McGuire was “camping” on the island after arriving there by boat. Discovery Island has been shut down since 1999 and has been completely taken over by mother nature.
In addition to seeing the Orange County Sheriff’s Office employing helicopters and boats to search for Richard McGuire, we also get a sneak peek into what Discovery Island looks like these days. We hear officers bark, “Orange County Sherriff’s Office come out with your hands up do it now!” as they walk around with guns drawn while Richard McGuire stays hidden. One of the officers can be heard saying that McGuire was engaged in the best game of hide and seek ever.
Richard McGuire was ultimately caught and claimed to officers that the long-shut down Disney World island is a “tropical paradise.” However, authorities did not find him on the island. They only caught McGuire as he took the boat back to the mainland. “Did you go camping?,” asked one deputy. “Yeah,” McGuire responded. “That’s a tropical paradise. I was going to stay out there for about a week.” McGuire’s van was illegally parked in a residential area, so that was another tip that he was still around the premises, which led law enforcement to stick around.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Richard McGuire, who has plead not guilty of trespassing, says, “Luckily, I’ve already taken my daughter Disney World before I got a life ban. Who wouldn’t want to go and have it all to themselves?” Along with the law enforcement video, McGuire, who goes by the Southern Pirate on YouTube, posted his own footage of himself hanging out on the island when the law showed up. We see him in hiding and he documents what he was up to, while also attempting to escape the so-called “tropical paradise.”
Discovery Island is in the middle of Bay Lake at the Walt Disney World Resort. Back when McGuire went on his camping excursion, the entire resort had been shut down for over a month, which could be why so much attention was brought to the situation. The Orange County Sherriff’s department treated the situation very seriously, as one can tell by watching the footage. One can also tell that McGuire was very good at hiding and evading law enforcement when they stormed the island, while armed, looking for him. McGuire’s criminal case is still being prosecuted and his videos probably won’t help him out in court at all. You can check out the law enforcement video above, thanks to the Orlando Click YouTube channel. You can also see McGuire’s footage below.
