Houston County District Attorney

MAN JUMPS INTO GATOR-INFESTED LAKE FLEEING POLICE; TURNS UP DEAD WITH TEETH MARKS ON TORSO A suspected thief disappeared into an alligator-infested lake as he fled police only to turn up dead the next day with gator teeth marks on his upper torso, authorities said Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how the man died, but a 9-foot-3-inch (2.82-meter) long alligator may have been responsible. The reptile has been killed and is being stored in a cooler awaiting a coroner's examination for human hair or skin, said Brian Wood, owner of All American Gator Products, which is storing the gator for now. It will then be incinerated or buried, he said. The man was allegedly burglarizing a vehicle in a resort parking lot Thursday and ran when police arrived, said Dexter Lehtinen, one of the Miccosukee tribe's police legal advisers. His name was not released. The man's body was recovered Friday by tribal police divers from the lake at the Miccosukee Resort and Convention Center west of Miami. A sign there warns people: "Danger Live Alligators."