Deputy Cain didn't go into the woods because he and Kronk saw a big snake. He wasn't going to go in there if there were snakes. He was later fired for not following up on that tip. Then, on August 21st tropical storm Faye hits the Orlando area. Over the period of about a week, that tropical storm zig-zagged across the area four times, setting a record. That storm dropped tons of rain, filling up retention ponds, and the area where Kronk spotted the bag was under water for the next 3 and 1/2 months.
Kronk only worked that meter-reader route for the month of August and then was scheduled to work another neighborhood in September, October, and November. In December he was scheduled for the Suburban Drive area again. By then, the water had receded and the bag was visible again.