Man's Body Found In Canal Near Alligator-5/17/08 Lakeland, FL

[Nut44x4]

Police Try To Identify Armless Body Found In Canal Near Alligator

POSTED: 3:17 pm EDT June 5, 2008
LAKELAND, Fla. -- Authorities released a composite sketch on Thursday in an effort to identify a deceased man whose armless body was found last month floating in a Polk County canal near an alligator.

The man's body was found May 17 by two fishermen in a canal off Saddle Creek on the south side of U.S. 92 in Lakeland near Philip's Bait and Tackle.

Detectives have not recovered the man's arms, which were missing from his body when he was found, so fingerprint identification is impossible, Polk County sheriff's deputies said.

An autopsy showed that the man, believed to be between the ages of 35 and 50, drowned.

The body of an alligator captured in the canal by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission did not contain any body parts, officials said.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
http://www.local6.com/news/16512715/detail.html#

[Roamer]

Doesn't sound as if his body was mutilated, which it would have been had an alligator grabbed him, don't you think? I know they do a death roll (or is that a croc?) to drown their victims, but I think they would have done more damage than just tear of his arms, the poor man.

[TigressPen]

Man Still Unidentified After Drowned Body Found


Polk sheriff's investigators release sketch of man found in water last month, his body chewed by alligators.


Sketch at this site: http://www.theledger.com/article/20080606/NEWS/806060403/1338/stormpost




LAKELAND | The Sheriff's Office on Thursday released a composite sketch of a man who remains unidentified nearly three weeks after his body was found drifting in the water of Saddle Creek Park.

Fishermen spotted an alligator feeding on the man's body May 17. An autopsy confirmed that the man, whose arms had been taken off by alligators, had drowned.

At least one alligator had fed on the body, and Polk sheriff's officials had said it wasn't clear whether the man drowned and then was bitten or was pulled under water by an alligator.

Sheriff's officials said the man is white and appears to be between 35 and 50 years old. He is between 5-feet, 9-inches and 5-feet, 10-inches tall, about 200 pounds with brown eyes and dark brown to black straight hair with a receding hairline.

The man had been in the water for days, but sheriff's officials said they couldn't pinpoint when he died.

The leads have been few.

Polk County sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said a few people have called to report missing loved ones, but after comparing dental records, they have found no matches.

"It's probably going to be awhile," said Dr. Stephen Nelson, medical examiner for Polk County. "People need to keep coming forward to the Sheriff's Office."

Because the man's arms were "traumatically amputated by the gator," investigators do not have fingerprints, Nelson said. And none of the dental records from people reported missing have matched the man.

Detectives are urging anyone with information about the man or who knows someone that is missing to call the Sheriff's Office at 863-534-0344 or Crime Stoppers at 800-226-TIPS (8477).

[ Shoshana Walter can be reached at 863-802-7590 or shoshana.walter@theledger.com. ]

[Roamer]

That answered my questions, TP. Thanks.