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Texas man killed in apparent alligator attack

By Danielle Haynes
Police in Texas believe an alligator killed a man who was swimming in a bayou in Orange, Texas. File photo by Michael Bush/UPI
Police in Texas believe an alligator killed a man who was swimming in a bayou in Orange, Texas. File photo by Michael Bush/UPI | License Photo

ORANGE, Texas, July 3 (UPI) -- Texas police believe an alligator is to blame for the early Friday death of a man who had gone for a midnight swim in a bayou near the Louisiana border.

The man, whose name wasn't released, was swimming with a woman around 2:30 a.m. local time in Adams Bayou in Orange, Texas, when he was apparently struck by an alligator, which then pulled the man underwater.

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The owner of Burkart's Marina, near where the incident happened, said the woman yelled at the man to get out of the water, but he was taken farther into the bayou by the alligator. The owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told KHOU-TV in Houston the man often swam in the bayou at night, though he'd never seen an alligator attack like this before.

Searchers from the Orange County Sheriff's Department and Texas Parks and Wildlife discovered the man's body around 4:20 a.m. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and an autopsy was pending.

Should it be confirmed the man was killed by an alligator, it will be the first time the animal has caused a death in Texas in nearly 200 years, the Houston Chronical reported.

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