FORT MEADE, Fla. — An alligator found holding a Florida man’s lifeless body in its mouth had ingested his foot and hand, officials said.
The alligator's mouth was still clamped around part of the body of Michael Ford II, who was found floating in the water near a phosphate mine around 7:43 a.m. Thursday by a Mosaic employee, the Lakeland Ledger reported.
Wildlife officials captured and killed the reptile. A necropsy revealed Ford’s hand and foot inside the alligator’s stomach.
Ford had other cuts on his body caused by the alligator. His cause of death is drowning, although the final cause is pending toxicology results, the Ledger reported.