A Florida man found dead in a gator-filled lake near a disc golf course was apparently trying to collect Frisbees.
The incident happened at Taylor Lake in John S. Taylor Park in Largo, about 5 miles south of Clearwater.
Police said the man was looking for Frisbees in the lake when he died. They released no additional details, except that "a gator was involved" in his death, NBC News reported.
According to the New York Times, the man's body was found with one of his arms torn off.
A spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told The Times the victim was 47 years-old.
The man was described as a "transient" who made a living by selling Frisbees he found in the lake to people playing disc golf at the park.
"It appears that he went in before the park opened — unfortunately not a good time to be in any lake, but especially during alligator mating season," Paul Cozzie, director of Parks and Conservation Resources in Pinellas County, told The Times. He called the man's decision "a mistake that appears to have cost him his life."
Park officials previously had a run-in with the man in April when they found him trying to get into the lake, which has "no swimming" signs posted.
Wildlife officials captured and euthanized an alligator near the site of the attack, according to WFLA-TV. A necropsy will be performed to determine if it was involved in the attack.
The incident is Florida's first fatal alligator attack since 2019, according to The Times.
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