Missing woman's body found in alligator's mouth amid homicide probe

Patrol officers found ‘the remains of a woman in the jaws of an alligator’ in the Horsepen Bayou around 8.40am on Tuesday while searching the area for a female reported missing, according to Houston Police Department (HPD) Homicide Division Sergeants R Watson and M Burrow.

A sergeant ‘fatally shot the alligator to prevent it from doing more damage to the remains’, stated the officials on Wednesday.

Dive team members recovered the woman’s body and the gator from the bayou on the 2700 block of Coastal Oak Drive, west of El Dorado Boulevard, in the Clear Lake neighborhood.

Fatal alligator attacks in Texas are rare (Picture: Getty Images)

It was not clear if the woman was killed by the reptile or if the animal found her dead and was scavenging on her corpse.

A dive team recovered the woman's remains from the bayou in Houston, Texas — A dive team recovered the woman’s remains from the bayou in Houston, Texas (Picture: ABC13)

Texas Parks and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division spokesperson Maggie Berger told KTRK: ‘HPD is currently investigating the incident and will be the lead agency moving forward. Our thoughts are with the woman’s family during this time.’

Angela Derous, who was fishing in the bayou on Tuesday night, said she has seen eight to 10-foot baby gators living there.

‘I know which banks to stay away from and where they like to lay in the sun,’ she told the TV station. ‘That’s the first time I’ve heard of that happening down here. It’s a little scary.’