Two gators killed, but the one that killed man at Florida park hasn’t been caught

The alligator that killed a man May 31 in a Florida city park is defying efforts to capture and destroy it.

Two alligators — one 8 feet long and the other 10 feet long — have been caught by a state-contracted trapper in Largo’s John S. Taylor Park, but “initial necropsies ... revealed no evidence of their involvement with the deceased.”

“Subsequent surveillance efforts revealed no additional large alligators in the immediate area and removal efforts have been suspended. This is an ongoing investigation,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told McClatchy News.

Sean Thomas McGuinness, 47, was found dead May 31 at the edge of the park’s lake by a passerby walking a dog, Largo police said. Largo is about 20 miles west of Tampa.

A medical examiner’s report on the cause of death has not been released. However, “it was apparent that McGuinness suffered injuries related to alligators in the lake,” police said.

“He was observed to be missing three limbs,” a Largo police spokesperson told station WFLA.

FWC’s response to alligator attacks “is to remove the alligator that poses a public safety risk,” which is typically done by contracting with a trapper.

The search for the alligator centered around the park’s 53-acre lake, which is adjacent to an 18-hole disc golf course in the park.

McGuinness was a frequent visitor to the park and known to “enter the lake with disregard to the posted ‘No Swimming’ signs,” police said last week.

“A witness also advised detectives that McGuinness was known to sell discs back to people within the park ... and McGuinness was found within a few feet of a disc in the water.”

There are an estimated 1.3 million alligators in Florida, and the state averages “eight unprovoked alligator bites per year,” according to a 2021 report by FWC.

“From 1948 to 2021, 442 unprovoked bite incidents have occurred in Florida, (and) 26 of these bites resulted in human fatalities,” the state reports.

This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 12:39 PM with the headline "Two gators killed, but the one that killed man at Florida park hasn’t been caught."