LAKELAND, Fla. – A Florida medical examiner says a man found dead in a pond was the victim of a nearly nine-foot alligator.
The animal has been captured and killed. It had the missing man's arm in its stomach.
Officials don't know what Don Owen (search) was doing at the pond about a dozen miles from his home in Bartow. He had been missing since Wednesday when he was seen at a convenience store.
His remains were found by several men fishing in the pond.
Residents said they had fed the alligator, which is illegal and dangerous. A Wildlife Commission spokesman says alligators normally flee from humans unless threatened or cornered. But he says alligators that have been fed by humans begin to look at them as a food source.
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