(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Officials near Lafayette, Indiana, say a woman who was found unresponsive Wednesday with an 8-foot python wrapped around her neck died from asphyxiation.
Strangulation by a snake was determined to be the cause of death for 36-year-old Laura Hurst of Battle Ground, Indiana.
In 2016, Hurst worked for several months for accountant Kevin Grant.
"I met her two kids. They came in. Wonderful kids,” Grant told WBBM on Friday. “And she seemed like a really loving mother and she did a great job for me.
"And I learned she had a passion for snakes. She brought a snake in one time -- beautiful looking snake."
Indiana State Police say Hurst was found in a house that contained 140 snakes, and about 20 of them belonged to Hurst.
The Lafayette Journal and Courier reports that the snake house was owned by the sheriff of Benton County, Indiana, and that he owned a number of snakes there.
The sheriff reportedly was the one who found Hurst unresponsive.