The 504-pound alligator suspected of killing a 71-year-old Slidell man the day after Ida made landfall has been captured. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office Captain Lance Vitter said Sheriff Randy Smith promised the family of Timothy Satterlee, Senior that they would do all they can to locate his body.
“Sheriff Smith vowed from the very beginning that we’d do all we could to either find Mr. Satterlee or find the alligator. Hard work and persistence and of course some luck, this alligator was able to be captured,” said Vitter.
The alligator was located on Monday, two weeks after Satterlee was last seen. It was the victim’s 68-year-old wife that last saw him being attacked by the gator. She tried to assist but was unable and then she traveled to a nearby highway for assistance because 9-1-1 was not operational.
Vitter said to have Satterlee survive, Katrina, COVID, and then Ida to only be killed by an alligator while he checked on his property is even more tragic.
“From all accounts that we’ve been told from he would give his shirt off his back to help people, it’s definitely a loss to the community,” said Vitter.
After the alligator was captured, it was killed with permission granted by wildlife authorities, and they discovered what appears to be human remains inside the alligator’s stomach, and they will work with the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office to verify that they are those of Satterlee.
It has yet to be determined if Satterlee’s death will be considered a storm-related fatality, but Vitter said the knee-deep water under the victim’s home was a factor in his death.
“I don’t know what determines that, but I would say the alligator normally wouldn’t be under his house if it wasn’t underwater,” said Vitter.
Satterlee was known for his volunteer work in the community along with disaster response by cooking meals for storm victims.
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