Body Found In Lake Maggiore Surrounded By Alligators Identified

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — St. Petersburg Police have identified the body found in a lake surrounded by alligators Thursday as 16-year-old Jarvis Deliford.

Although there was evidence of alligator bites on the body, police said there appears to be no signs of foul play. Police are awaiting the medical examiner's autopsy report for the official cause of death, said police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez.

"It will have to be the medical examiner's determination to see if the alligators came in before the person was deceased or after," Fernandez said. "At this time we cannot call it an alligator attack --- simply that there were alligators around the body when we found it."

Visitors to Lake Maggiore Park on 9th Street South and 40th Avenue South spotted the body in some mangroves in the southeast corner of the lake Thursday morning. When first responders arrived, they said there were several alligators near the body. They had to use a boat to carefully retrieve the body without disturbing the gators.

Fernandez noted that the amount of decomposition indicates that the death did not occur Thursday morning. However, police don't know how long the body was in the water.

“It’s very, very hot and anybody that is, unfortunately, in this heat and that’s been in the water for a while is going to suffer decomposition," Fernandez said. "At this point, we’re not able to tell you the gender or anything about the victim. We really have to wait for the medical examiner to determine the cause of death and maybe that will tell us what happened."

She asked that anyone who was in the park recently and saw anything suspicious to call St. Petersburg Police Department at 727-893-7780.