A woman was found dead with an 8-foot snake wrapped around her neck in a home owned by a county sheriff.
Laura Hurst, 36, was found in Benton County, Indiana, Sheriff Don Munson’s home on Wednesday, according to the Journal & Courier. Sgt. Kim Riley, an Indiana State Police spokesman, said Hurst was found unresponsive right before 9:00 p.m. with the reticulated python loosely wrapped around her neck. The person who found her was able to remove the snake but was not able to revive her.
“She appears to have been strangled by the snake,” Riley said. “We do not know that for a fact until after the autopsy.”
Police also said that there were 140 snakes in the home and that while Munson owns the property, he does not reside in the snake-filled home. Instead, that property has been renovated for the collection of snakes, 20 of which belonged to the victim, who frequented the home multiple times a week.
Marcel Katz, an attorney handling Hurst’s divorce, said that she “had a real passion for snakes,” and added that it “was a big issue for her.”
