Alan Diaz, AP Photographer Behind Elian Image, Dies At 71

MIAMI — Retired Associated Press photojournalist Alan Diaz, whose photo of a terrified 6-year-old Cuban boy named Elian Gonzalez earned him the Pulitzer Prize, has died. He was 71.

Diaz’s daughter, Aillette Rodriguez-Diaz, confirmed that he died Tuesday.

Diaz’s iconic image shows an armed U.S. immigration agent confronting the boy in the Little Havana home where he lived with relatives after being found floating off the Florida coast.

Diaz had grown close to the boy’s relatives and their neighbors. When the pre-dawn raid began in April 2000, a friend of the family ushered him inside to photograph it.

Diaz had been freelancing for AP when the saga began. AP hired him full-time two months after the raid, eventually sending him to cover sporting events, hurricanes and other assignments. He retired in December.