LA LA - St Tammany Parish, Human Finger Found In Turtle, June 2018

[Gardener1850]

SLIDELL, La. – A Louisiana sheriff's office is investigating the discovery of a human finger inside the body of an alligator snapping turtle.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release that a man called deputies on Monday after finding the finger inside a large turtle he was cleaning and processing for consumption.

Human finger found in alligator snapping turtle's body

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

Oh wow!

Recently missing, approximately 80 miles away. Could be anyone though.

LA - La- Julie Moak, 39, Gonzales, 13 June 2018

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office
June 13 at 2:23pm ·
***STPSO Investigating After Human Finger Found***

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office received a report Monday (June 11) from an individual who found what was later identified by the St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office to be a human finger, inside of an alligator snapping turtle.

A Bush, LA area man called deputies after he located a finger as he was cleaning and processing a large alligator snapping turtle for consumption. It was determined the turtle had been caught on a trotline in a local area river in Western St. Tammany Parish.

Deputies contacted the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office who took possession of the finger in an attempt to identify its owner.

Both the STPSO Crime Lab and the Coroner’s Office have tried to obtain a fingerprint but those efforts proved unsuccessful.

Local hospitals in St. Tammany Parish and Washington Parish were also contacted, but those inquires yielded no results.

Members of the STPSO Marine Division along with representatives from the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office are currently canvassing the area where the turtle was caught. STP Coroner’s Office K-9 “Maggie”, a human remains detection dog, as well as LASAR (Louisiana Search & Rescue) dogs will be utilized in the search.

If anyone has information about this case, please contact the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office at 985-898-2338 or the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office at 985-781-1150.

 

[Melt71]

This finger is not in Namus but I can't find anything to indicate the person (or source of the body parts) has been identified. Does anyone know how long a finger would remain in a turtle's digestive tract before moving on through?

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

How do they know the finger is from a deceased individual though? Couldn't this just be a case of a snapping turtle biting off someone's finger who got a little too close?

JMO MOO YMMV