The man who spotted a 14-foot alligator carrying the lifeless body of a human has said he 'couldn't believe' the grisly sight unfolding before his eyes.
JaMarcus Bullard spotted the creature carrying the body in an unincorporated part of Largo, in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, just before 2pm local time on Friday (22 September).
The creature was lurking in a waterway with its jaws clamped around something, so Bullard threw a rock at it to see if it was real.
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"I noticed it had a body in its mouth, like a lower torso," Bullard told WTVT. But in spite of what he saw, at first Bullard didn't believe the body actually belonged to a human.
"Once I saw what it had I was like, 'Is that a mannequin?' it looked pale and white," he said.
Struggling to believe his own eyes, Bullard started 'recording' the scene before reporting it to authorities.
Speaking to CBS affiliate WTSP, Bullard recalled: "It (the alligator) lifted up out of the water with the body, like it was just clamped onto it, and it like swam backwards, like, under to the bottom of the canal to the other side.
"I just couldn't believe it was real."
When deputies and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers responded to the scene, they 'humanely killed' the alligator and a dive team entered the canal to retrieve the remains.
The body has since been identified as belonging to Sabrina Peckham, whose manner and cause of death is now being investigated by the Pinellas County medical examiner.
Another witness to the scene, Terri Williams, was visiting the area when the incident took place and joined Bullard in her shock at the sight.
"I would’ve never dreamt that an alligator would be in this area," Williams told Fox News. "Of course, I know there’s a lake across the street, and I know about the lake in Taylor Park, but not in this neighborhood. No, I would have never thought that."
The discovery of the alligator with the body left Bullard concerned about the local area, saying: "All I can think about is all of these little kids that go to the school right behind me."
After Friday's events, he plans to keep a close eye on his surroundings going forward.
"I walk this way from work, there and back, and I always look both ways just in case there's an alligator or something like that."
Emily Brown