Hunters Capture Gator Suspected of Killing Man in Ida Floodwaters, Human Remains Found

A major development has unfolded in the story of the Slidell man who was believed to be killed by an alligator while wading through Hurricane Ida floodwaters.

According to an update from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office Facebook page, authorities were able to capture a 12-foot, 500-pound alligator near the Avery Estates area where 71-year old Timothy Satterlee Sr. went missing a few weeks ago in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

Satterlee's wife told authorities that she saw the attack happen on their property and was able to pull her husband to safety while going to seek help. When she returned with first responders, the man was nowhere to be found. Neither was the alligator.

You can read the original story here to see why authorities assumed that the man was dead based on evidence found at the scene.

On Monday, the Sheriff's office found more evidence that pointed to their theory being true as they found what seemed to be human remains inside the massive gator.

This past weekend U.S. Wildlife agents observed a large alligator in a waterway near where the incident occurred. Deputies and agents, with the assistance of two Louisiana Department of Wildlife licensed nuisance hunters, Phillip Mc Clurke and Eric Dumas, set traps to catch the alligator. The alligator was caught this morning by one of the traps and brought to a secure sight to be searched. Once the alligator was searched, it was discovered to have what appears to be human remains inside its stomach. Investigators will work with the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office to verify those remains belong to Timothy Satterlee.

STPSO posted the official update along with photos on their official Facebook page.

At the time of this post, the coroner's office was working to confirm that the remains found do in fact belong to Satterlee. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Smith issued the following statement after today's development.

This is a horrible tragedy and my sincere condolences and sympathy goes to the Satterlee family. I know todays findings does not bring their loved one back, but hopefully this can bring them some sort of closure. I am very proud of the hard, non-stop work, of my deputies and the other agencies who assisted, and I hope their persistence in finding this alligator will help the family with coping with their loss. We will continue to keep them in our prayers.

We will update this developing story as more information becomes available.