On Wednesday, a woman was found in a home in Indiana with an 8-foot python wrapped around her neck.
Sgt. Kim Riley, an Indiana State Police spokesman, told the Journal & Courier that Laura Hurst, 36, was discovered with a reticulated python loosely wrapped around her neck. Paramedics attempted to revive her, but couldn’t.
An autopsy revealed she died of asphyxiation.
Although Riley suspected Hurst was strangled by the snake, police wouldn’t immediately confirm the 36-year-old’s cause of death until after an official autopsy.
On Friday, an autopsy was completed and it revealed she died of asphyxiation due to strangulation by a snake. The coroner’s office is still waiting for the results of a toxicology tests, which can take several weeks.
The home was set up to house snakes.
The home where Hurst was found is owned by Benton County Sheriff Don Munson and was reportedly set up to house a collection of snakes–no one lives at the home. At the time of Hurst’s death there were 140 snakes on the property, 20 of them were hers.
Munson, who is cooperating with the police, called Hurst’s death a “tragic accident with loss of human life.”
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