MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — Dive teams in Florida are searching alligator-infested waters at a preserve after one alligator was found with human remains.
In a Facebook post, Martin County sheriff’s deputies shared video of the office’s dive team searching the water at Hungryland Preserve.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told WPTV a biologist with the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission was working in the area when they spotted an alligator with what appeared to be a human arm. Investigators were called to the scene and eventually retreived the arm.
Investigators on the scene found what may have been part of a leg about a mile and a half away from where the arm was located, The Miami Herald reported.
“We have to work through all of the possibilities,” Snyder told WPBF. “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.”
Hungryland Preserve covers more than 16,600 acres in both Martin and Palm Beach Counties in Florida, and is an area for hunting, fishing, hiking and other outdoor activities. The preserve is unguarded, The Miami Herald reported.
Investigators told WPBF the area is filled with alligators, bobcats, and wild hogs.
Because the waters where the dive team was searching are alligator-infested, Martin County sheriff’s deputies said a sniper was watching over the team to make sure the divers stayed safe.