Police identify man whose body was found in gator’s mouth

LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) – Lakeland police on Friday identified the man whose body was found in an alligator’s mouth earlier this week.

Lakeland Police Department Sergeant Gary Gross identified the man as Richard Zachary Taylor, age 72. Police say he did not have a permanent address.

Taylor was identified by his fingerprints. Police say he had been in the Lakeland area for about ten years and was originally from South Carolina.

The manner and cause of Taylor’s death have not been determined. Detectives are waiting on additional test results and the toxicology report from the Medical Examiner’s Office. Detectives are working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on the investigation.

On Tuesday afternoon, Joe Diaz called 911 to report seeing an alligator with a man’s body in its mouth in Lakeland’s Lake Butler.

“I noticed something bobbing in the water just over here. At first I thought it was a tire or something just from the looks of it,” Diaz told News Channel 8. “I noticed there was a gator on it because he kind of took it up and rolled it,” Diaz said.

Diaz speculated that the body had been in the lake. “You can tell it had been there awhile because they had smelled something that was not right.”

Lakeland police responded and removed the body from the lake. A trapper then went out on the lake to search for the alligator. The trapper caught a gator and human remains were later found in the alligator’s stomach.