UPDATE:
Indiana State Police say the cause of death for Laura Hurst indicates asphyxiation due to strangulation by a snake. The autopsy was performed at the Tippecanoe County Morgue. Toxicology test results are still pending. The coroner in the case was from the Benton County Coroner's Office. The woman was found in Oxford in Benton County.
Indiana State Police Sergeant Kim Riley says the house where 36-year old Laura Hurst of Battle Ground was found is owned by Benton County Sheriff Don Munson and was specifically designed to hold snakes. Riley says Hurst was alone when she was discovered, though he declined to identify who found her.
Riley says, "Everything was locked up, except for that one snake."
Riley says the python is still at the house, which contains 20 of Hurst’s snakes—including the python—and 120 snakes belonging to Munson.
Kelly Thomas, vice president of the Hendricks County exotic animal rescue organization A Critter’s Chance, says while breeders and pet owners can form connections with a snake, they need to understand the potential dangers of handling one.
“You get used to the animal, you think that you build this bond between you and the animal, but it’s not true. These aren’t domestic animals. Just because they’re tame doesn’t mean they’re domestic. They’re still a wild animal," Thomas says.
Thomas says her organization takes in about 10 ball pythons a year—a breed she says exhibits more docile behavior, but not larger breeds like the reticulated python.
ORIGINAL POST:
Indiana State Police have released information about a woman found dead Wednesday at a home in Benton County where 140 snakes were present. The woman was found dead with a reticulated python wrapped around her neck. She has been identified as Laura Hurst, 36, of Battle Ground, Indiana.
Indiana State Police Sgt. Kim Riley says 36-year-old Laura Hurst of Battle Ground, Indiana, was found unresponsive Wednesday night on the floor of a home in Oxford, with the snake wrapped loosely around her neck.
Riley says the person who found the woman removed the reticulated python from her neck, but medics were unable to revive her. The woman's cause of death remains under investigation, with an autopsy scheduled Friday.
The Journal & Courier of Lafayette reports that the home is owned by the Benton County Sheriff and is set up specifically for a collection of snakes. The sheriff is the one who found the woman.
In 2001, the newspaper reported that the man who is now the sheriff bred snakes for sale.
Twenty of the snakes at the home at 609 North Dan Patch Drive in Oxford, Indiana, belonged to Hurst according to police. ISP says Hurst would frequent the location where the snakes were two times a week.