Report: Wounds look like gator bite
Autopsy begun on DeBary swimmer
The dead man pulled from the waters of Blue Spring State Park on Monday appeared to have wounds consistent with an alligator attack, according to a report from the Volusia County Sheriff ’s Office.
A medical examiner has begun the autopsy on James Okkerse, 61. If it’s determined he was killed by an alligator, it would be the first since 2007, according to wildlife officials.
“After bringing Okkerse’s body to shore, it was determined Florida Fish and Wildlife would assume the investigation since there was obvious trauma to Okkerse’s body consistent with accounts of an alligator attack,” according to a Sheriff ’s Office incident report released Tuesday.
Friends of Okkerse, who lived in DeBary, first reported
the man missing about 9:10 a.m. Monday when he didn’t return from a swim near the boil of the spring. When wildlife officers arrived, they found Okkerse floating facedown near the shores of the park’s swimming area, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The alligator, spotted nearby, was shot and killed because it posed a threat to park visitors.
A sighting of the 12-foot reptile at the Orange City park closed the swimming area for about an hour at noon Sunday as park staff looked for the animal, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. A second sighting of the alligator was reported about 4 p.m.
The swimming area was closed Monday after Okkerse’s body was found. It reopened Tuesday.
Florida’s last fatal alligator bite occurred in 2007 while a man was swimming across a pond in West Miami trying to evade police. Since then, the state has enjoyed the longest period in recent records without fatal alligator-human encounters.
Jeff Woolfenden, a contract alligator trapper for FWC, said it’s remarkable no one has been killed in so long, even as development encroaches on areas inhabited by the large reptiles.
“That’s really good considering how many alligators we have,” he said. “Go to any body of water and shine a flashlight.”
According to FWC statistics, there have been 22 fatal alligator bites since 1948. In the same time period, there have been 338 nonfatal alligator bites.
Lenny Salberg, an FWC spokesman, said Monday he could not tell whether Okkerse suffered bite marks. Salberg and other FWC officials could not be reached Tuesday to comment on the Volusia County report.
Woolfenden said an alligator that size could do incredible damage to a person in the water.
“That’s a huge alligator with some serious mass, some serious bite force and some serious body weight,” he said.
Blue Spring State Park is best known for its wintertime manatee viewing, as dozens of the mammals crowd into the narrow run that leads from the spring boil to the St. Johns River. The spring also is popular with cave divers.