Florida man Richard Zachary Taylor identified as dead body found in alligator
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.
Richard Zachary Taylor
On Tuesday afternoon, Joe Diaz called 911 around 1:30 p.m. when he saw something bobbing in the water.
“I thought it was a spare tire or something just floating in the water,” Diaz said.
When he walked closer to the lake, he couldn’t believe what he saw – the alligator.
“I could see something pulling on it from underneath the water,” Diaz said. “It was kind of brutal to see,” he said.
“When he couldn’t get it in the storm sewer, he stopped right there and started doing death rolls,” Mickey Roberts said to ABC News, detailing what he saw.
Roberts continued, “it was like he was protecting his kill. He was in an aggressive mode.”
Detectives with the Lakeland Police Department believe Taylor was in the lake for more than a day.
More details can be read over at Tampa Dispatch
