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Timothy Satterlee is a Louisiana man who was attacked by an alligator during Hurricane Ida flooding in Slidell, and is now missing, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s office.
“The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating after an apparent alligator attack, which occurred around midday Monday (August 30),” the sheriff’s office wrote in a news release.
It’s believed he was likely killed by the alligator, sheriff’s officials said in the release.
Here’s what you need to know:
Satterlee Was ‘Attacked’ by the Alligator ‘While Walking in Flood Waters’
According to the sheriff’s department’s release, at approximately noon on Monday, August 30, 2021, “a resident in Avery Estates off Highway 90 in Slidell contacted the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office after her 71-year-old husband was attacked and apparently killed by an alligator while walking in flood waters following Hurricane Ida.” Daily Mail first obtained a photo of Satterlee.
The wife, who was not named, told deputies “she was inside her residence when she heard a commotion and went outside to see a large alligator attacking her husband. She immediately ran to her husband’s aide in an attempt to stop the attack. Once the attacked stopped, she pulled her husband out of the flood waters, and returned inside to gather first aid supplies.”
The woman left her husband behind to get help.
Capt. Lance Vitter, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman, told NOLA.com that the wife “heard a splash” after her husband went outside to check on their shed. But she encountered an alligator that “had him in a death roll,” the newspaper reported.
When His Wife Returned, Satterlee’s Body Was Missing
A 71-year-old Louisiana man is believed to have been killed by an alligator in Slidell, Louisiana, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said. t.co/yGL6dX5AKE
According to the sheriff, when Satterlee’s wife “returned and realized the severity of his injuries, she immediately got into her pirogue and went to higher ground, which was approximately a mile away, to get help. When she returned her husband was no longer lying on the steps.”
NOLA.com reported that the gator ripped off Satterlee’s arm, rendering him unconscious.
The release continues, “STPSO used high water vehicles and flatboats in an attempt to locate the victim, but as of this time all attempts have been futile. The incident is under investigation and no other information is available at this time. Sheriff Randy Smith warns residents to be extra vigilant with walking in flooded areas as wildlife has been displaced as well during this storm and alligators and other animals may have moved closer into neighborhoods.”
The wife’s phone wasn’t working to call 911 from the house, according to NOLA.com. Blood found at the scene and other evidence supports the wife’s story, the newspaper reported.
Deputies have been searching for Satterlee’s body to no avail. The couple’s shed is located near Lake Pontchartrain and was flooded due to the hurricane, according to WWL-TV. Foul play is not expected, and some neighbors said alligators are attracted to the area because they get fed by some people who live in the neighborhood, the television station noted.
“They searched until it got dark yesterday, and unfortunately we still haven’t located Mr. Satterlee,” Vitter said to the Associated Press. “There is a high probability that he is deceased, but we can’t make that call until we recover the body.”
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