After human remains were found in a park north-west of West Palm Beach, a dive team searched the waters for gators Thursday.
Martin County Sheriff's Office stated in a statement, that the Hungryland Wildlife Preserve had been closed following Wednesday's discovery of remains on a canal bank three miles within the park.
According to Sheriff William Snyder, a state biologist who was working in the preserve spotted an alligator with a human hand, NBC affiliate WPTV West Palm Beach reported.
The station reported that detectives found additional remains about a mile away and that cadaver dogs were used to search other areas of the 16,600-acre park.
According to the statement, a sniper was looking on the dive team Thursday during the search.
It was unclear if the remains belonged to the same person as Snyder, who said they appeared white, or if they were moved by animals.
According to WPTV, the remains didn't seem to have been in the preserve for very long. He said that investigators had hoped to identify the remains using fingerprints.
Snyder stated that while it is possible that someone may have fallen in the water and died from natural causes, however, it does not look like that. He also said that Martin County has been a "body dump", according to the station.
He said, "That's been happening for decades."
He stated that there are no missing persons reports in Martin County.
