Alligator spotted with dead body in its mouth
Defensive alligator with it's mouth open.
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Police in central Florida are trying to figure out how an alligator got ahold of a dead body.
Lakeland police spokesman Gary Gross says officers responded to Lake Hunter on Tuesday afternoon following a report of an alligator with a body in its mouth.
Officers were able to retrieve the body, and Gross says a trapper was called to capture the 8-foot reptile. Gross says the dead body appears to be an adult male, but police weren't sure.
It wasn't known if the alligator killed the person or simply found the dead body. Gross says a medical examiner will have to determine the cause of death.
Last week, two fishermen discovered alligators eating a dead man in a South Florida canal.