Another alligator attack

[Valigator]

LAKELAND -- A man found dead in a Lakeland pond was the victim of an 8-foot, 9-inch alligator that was captured and killed, the medical examiner's office said Tuesday.

Officials did not know what Don Owen, 56, a truck driver from Bartow, was doing at the Southern Lakeland pond about a dozen miles from his home. He had been missing since last week.











On Wednesday, appearing disoriented, he asked a passer-by if he could make a phone call. As the man made the call Owen got back in his car and drove away, said his brother Rev. Eddie Owen.

Later that night he was seen at a convenience store.

On Thursday he was reported missing when he did not show up for work. On Saturday the remains of his body were found by several men fishing in Six Pound Pond.

An autopsy determined that Owen was killed by an alligator, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.

Trappers caught the alligator on Monday. Owen's forearm was found in its stomach.

Local residents said they had fed the alligator, which is illegal and extremely dangerous, said Gary Morse, spokesman for the wildlife commission.

Alligators normally fear humans and flee from them unless threatened or cornered, but alligators that have been fed by humans begin to look at humans as a food source, Morse said.

Since 1948, 330 alligator attacks have been documented by the commission. Sixteen have been fatal, including Owen's.

From todays Sun-Sentinel