A 12-foot-long alligator believed to have attacked a Louisiana man in Hurricane Ida floodwaters two weeks ago was captured and killed Monday, and authorities found human remains in its stomach.
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said the parish coroner’s office was working with investigators to determine if the remains were those of Timothy Satterlee, 71, who has been missing since the Aug. 30 attack.
Ida had caused widespread flooding and knocked out electricity and phone service in parts of south Louisiana when it came ashore Aug. 29. Satterlee was attacked outside his home, which was surrounded by floodwaters, in the New Orleans suburb of Slidell on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
Authorities said Satterlee’s wife heard a splash and walked outside their home to see the alligator attacking her husband. She managed to pull her severely injured husband to the steps of their home.
She used a small boat to reach higher ground to get help. But, when she and deputies returned to the house, Satterlee was gone.
Sheriff’s deputies were joined by federal and state wildlife agents in the search for the alligator. A trap set by alligator hunters captured the 500-pound (225-kilogram) animal Monday morning.ripping off Louisiana man’s arm in Ida’s floodwaters