Months after a Florida man whose partially-eaten body was found near an alligator that ate his hand and foot, officials revealed that the man had actually died from a methamphetamine overdose.
On June 27, a Mosaic Company employee found Michael Ford II, 45, floating in a pond on a fenced-in Fort Meade property. Fish and Wildlife officials reportedly trapped and killed the alligator—which was approximately 449 pounds and 11 feet, 10 inches long—and took it to the Medical Examiner’s Office along with Ford’s body.
A necropsy revealed that Ford’s hand and foot were in the alligator’s stomach. An initial autopsy listed his apparent cause of death as drowning and attributed various lacerations and injuries to the alligator.
However, the Medical Examiner’s Office announced on Wednesday that Ford died as the result of “methamphetamine intoxication” and said that the injuries to his body occurred postmortem, according to WTSP.
It remains unclear how Ford, who did not work for the mining company, ended up on the property in the first place. The Smoking Gun reported that a car believed to have been driven by Ford was found near the fenced property.
The news outlet noted that Ford was arrested on burglary and grand theft auto charges 10 days before his death. The deceased man also had a 2018 conviction for meth possession.
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[Featured image: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission]
