An eight-foot Python snake was found loosely wrapped around the neck of a deceased woman inside a house filled with snakes in Indiana, police officials said on Thursday. The woman identified as 36-year-old Laura Hurst was found unresponsive by a police officer on Wednesday night with a reticulated Python around her neck in Battle Guard region in Indiana, reported the Associated Press.
While the python was removed from her neck when she was found, medics were unable to revive her. The cause of death is uncertain until the autopsy results are revealed. Indiana State Police Sergeant Kim Riley said that cause of death is likely to be strangulation by the snake. "She appears to have been strangled by the snake," Riley was quoted as saying to the Journal & Courier. "We do not know that for a fact until after the autopsy."
Reports stated the house contained 140 snakes and 20 of them were owned by Hurst and were used to visit the Oxford home twice a week. The inside of the residence was renovated to house a collection of reptiles.
House records revealed Benton County Sheriff Don Munson who lives next door to the scene, was listed as the owner. Being the first person who found Hurst, he called her death a "tragic accident with loss of human life."
Munson who had previously stated that he bred snakes said that he is cooperating in the investigation and stated that all information has been given to the state police. Riley said the ownership of the house being Munson's was unconfirmed.
