Human Remains Found Inside Alligator's Mouth In A Florida Reserve

An investigation was launched by Florida authorities after a severed arm was found inside the mouth of an alligator in a nature preserve Wednesday.

According to Martin County Sheriff William Snyder, the shocking find was made by a state biologist working in the Hungryland preserve, the Miami Herald reported.

County Crime Scene Detectives immediately began a search for the remains, following the discovery. The officers soon located another body part, a portion of a human leg, on a bank of the gator-infested canal. The leg was found about a mile and a half away from where the arm was spotted.

"We have to work through all of the possibilities. Were these human remains that were dismembered prior to being brought out here? Or is what we are seeing the result of animal predation? We are treating this as a homicide investigation. We can’t rule out the possibility that somebody fell in the water and died of natural causes out here but it doesn’t look like that to us," Synder was quoted by WPBF.

Investigators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Martin County Fire Rescue dive team are aiding the search for the remaining parts. A sniper is deployed to watch over the team, and to prevent gator attacks, reports added. Helicopters, a dive team, cadaver dogs and other tools have also been employed.

"It doesn’t matter how many alligators or what we have to encounter, we are going to figure out who this person was and if at all possible, if it was a murder — find the offender," Snyder said.

According to the investigators, the area is filled with alligators, bobcats and wild hogs, and the overgrowth makes it a challenging search.

The Hungryland Wildlife Preserve is more than 16,600 acres, and covers both Martin and Palm Beach counties. The place is unguarded and hundreds use it for hunting, fishing, hiking and camping.

The preserve has been closed to the public due to the search. The medical examiner's office is still working to identify the human remains that have been found.

Several incidents of gator attacks have been reported in Florida earlier, with a bicyclist being seriously injured last July when he was bitten by a gator in Halpatiokee Regional Park in Stuart.