Police say woman found dead with an 8ft python around her neck could have been SQUEEZED to death by the reptile as another 140 snakes are discovered at the home owned by a cop where she died
- Laura Hurst of Battle Ground, Indiana, was found unresponsive Wednesday night
- The 36-year-old was on the floor of a police officer’s home with the python around her neck
- 140 snakes were found in the home she visited twice a week and she owned 20 of the creatures, authorities said
- Home-owner cop called it a ‘tragic accident’ and said he was ‘being fully cooperative with everybody’
- An autopsy was scheduled Friday to determine the cause of death
Police say a mother has been found dead with an 8-foot-long (2.4-meter-long) python wrapped around her neck at a snake-laden home in northern Indiana.
Authorities said Laura Hurst of Battle Ground, Indiana, could have been squeezed to death at the Oxford property belonging to Benton County Sheriff Donald E. Munson where 140 snakes were kept.
The 36-year-old was found unresponsive on the floor Wednesday night with the reticulated python wrapped loosely around her neck.
Laura Hurst of Battle Ground, Indiana, was found unresponsive with the python around her neck Wednesday night on the floor of a police officer’s home
Total of 140 snakes were found in the home in Oxford, Missouri police said. There were no human residents
Reticulated pythons
Reticulated pythons are the longest snakes in the world and are in the top three heaviest species.
They are known for their ill temperament but in the past few decades the work of captive breeders has allowed expert reptile keepers to handle them, according to a June 2018 report by Reptiles magazine.
They are fearful of humans and killing them is rare but there have been at least 15 cases noted.
In two recent incidents reticulated pythons at the victims. Akbar Salubiro, 25, in March 2017 and Wa Tiba, 54, in June 2018. Both were in Indonesia.
Pictured is a reticulated python (Python reticulatus). There have been two noted incidents of them killing humans
However Cornell Professor Dr. Harry W. Greene has claimed at least six Filipino hunter-gatherers from 1934 to 1973.
In the recent cases the creatures were 23-feet-long but they can grow up to 32 feet and the largest in captivity was 25ft in Kansas City in 2011.
The huge creatures crush their prey, squeezing tighter around the neck as they exhale, leading to cardiac arrest or suffocation. Victims die within a couple of minutes but it could take an hour to be devoured.
‘The restricting factor is human shoulder blades because they are not collapsible,’ Mary-Ruth Low, conservation & research officer for Wildlife Reserves Singapore told BBC last June.
They are ‘exclusively mammal feeders’ but occasionally eat reptiles, including crocodiles.
Reticulated pythons that are 6-8 feet are referred to as ‘super dwarfs’ while those 10-12 feet are called ‘dwarfs’.
Reticulated pythons often originate from South Asian countries, sub Saharan Africa and Australia.
‘She appears to have been strangled by the snake,’ Indiana State Police Sgt. Kim Riley said. ‘We do not know that for a fact until after the autopsy.’
Hurst’s Facebook profile suggests she may have been a mother-of-two. Images from 2012 show her getting married.
Facebook states she worked as a Harness Engineering Build Techician at Kirby Risk in Lafayette.
Riley said the person who found her removed the reticulated python, but medics were unable to revive her.
The woman’s cause of death remains under investigation, with an autopsy scheduled Friday.
Sheriff Munson called it a ‘tragic accident with loss of human life’ and speaking to the Lafayette Journal & Courier said he was ‘being fully cooperative with everybody’.
‘I’ve given all information to the state police,’ Munson added.
The woman owned about 20 of the snakes in the house and had visited about twice a week, cops said.
But the property was not inhabited by humans and was ‘made for the keeping of snakes’.
The Lafayette Journal & Courier reported in 2001 that Munson had presented a 13-foot, 45-pound python at a guest at Oxford Elementary school.
A Benton County deputy appearing upon invitation from the principal, Munson reportedly told students he had 52 snakes in his garage.
He also reportedly told the children he bred snakes for sale.
Reticulated pythons often originate from South Asian countries, sub-Saharan Africa and Australia.
They can grow up to 32 feet and the largest in captivity was 25ft in Kansas City in 2011.
Reticulated pythons that are 6-8 feet are referred to as ‘super dwarfs’ while those 10-12 feet are called ‘dwarfs’.
‘The restricting factor is human shoulder blades because they are not collapsible,’ Mary-Ruth Low, conservation & research officer for Wildlife Reserves Singapore told BBC last June.
Benton County Sheriff Donald E. Munson owns the home and in 2001 reportedly told students he had 52 snakes in his garage. He also reportedly said he bred snakes for sale
The woman visited the property twice a week and she owned 20 of the creatures, authorities said