FORT MEADE -- Sheriff's deputies are investigating after an alligator was discovered with its jaws on a man's body.
The site was near an old phosphate mine off Peeples Road. The Polk Sheriff's Office got the call from a supervisor at phosphate mining company Mosaic around 7:45 Thursday morning. They found the dead man in a canal after someone spotted both the body and the gator.
The sheriff's office says the creature "disengaged" when they arrived. State FWC agents shot and killed the alligator.
Deputies say they don't know what caused the man's death, and won't say until the medical examiner finishes an autopsy on his body and a necropsy on the alligator.
Listen to the 911 call below -
Photo Credit: Polk County Sheriff's Office