Investigators have discovered a human arm inside the stomach of a Florida alligator. The arm may have belonged to a woman who was walking her dogs in the park where the alligator lived, and who is now presumed dead. According to ABC Local 10 News, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission ordered a necropsy, or animal autopsy, on a 12-and-a-half foot alligator caught from Silver Lakes Rotary Nature Park. When the cut open the animal to investigate the contents of its stomach, they found an arm presumed to be of Plantation, Florida resident Shizuka Matsuki, who had disappeared recently. Matsuki's husband asked her to walk the dogs while he's out of town in Chicago, but had warned about this particular park, Local 10 reported. While there are signs warning visitors not to swim in the lake, one resident criticized the park supervisors for not including signs specifically about the alligators and snakes in the park. One resident saw a woman walking her dogs near the park, and then later, three dogs were found wandering alone, one of which was injured. Broward County Animal Control and Adoption Agency said that they had taken custody of the dogs. Only one car was parked at the park, one which was registered to Matsuki and her husband. According to Key West Aquarium, alligator attacks on humans are considered rare, with 23 recorded fatalities since the early 1970's. Alligators are the largest reptile in North America. While they are common today, over-hunting almost drove American alligators to extinction in the 1950's. Now there are enough alligators in Florida that the species is their state reptile, a major part of tourism attractions, and regularly hunted for food and sport. The search for the rest of Matsuki's body will continue in the park.<doc-sep>An arm has been found inside the body of an alligator which is believed to have dragged a woman to her death this morning while she was out walking her dogs. Park rangers eventually captured the enormous alligator at Silver Lakes Rotary Park in Davie, Florida, on Friday afternoon after spending hours searching for it in the large pond. When they cut it open, they discovered a human arm. They were called to the scene at 9.45am amid reports that Shizuka Matsuki, 47, had been dragged in to the water. She was out walking her dogs, one of which was found by the side of the water with a large, fresh wound on its coat when authorities arrived. Before divers could go into the water to look for the woman - who remains missing - they had to capture the beastly reptile which was filmed swimming ominously through the dark water not long after the alarm was raised. The 12ft-long alligator was captured by trappers on Friday afternoon. Rangers have since found a human arm inside it but there is no other sign of the woman who was dragged into the water Friends and family of a woman believed to have been dragged by an alligator, wait for word on her The alligator was filmed swimming in the water at Silver Lakes Rotary Park after reports that it dragged a woman into the water at 9.45am (above). In the afternoon, park rangers got the reptile out of the water and found a human arm inside it Police are still searching for the woman who was seen being pulled into the water at Silver Lakes Rotary Nature Park in Davie, Florida (the park is pictured above) at 9.45am Video courtesy of Local 10 Locals say the reptiles are known to frequent the water and that they know not to let their dogs off the leash there because of it. The alarm was raised at 9.45am when a man called 911 claiming to have seen the woman be taken into the water. He told police that when he got to the water's edge, Matsuki had vanished and her dogs were standing with their leashes on. One had a fresh wound, he said. 'Her dogs won’t leave the pond. One of her dogs got bit by the gator,' Davie Police Maj. Dale Engle told The Sun Sentinel as he searched for the woman afterwards. A necropsy confirmed the gator bit Matsuki, 47, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said in a statement. The statement said officials believe Matsuki was killed and were searching for her body. Commission spokesman Rob Klepper said they were able to positively identify the woman from evidence collected from the necropsy of the alligator, but he wouldn't specifically say what that evidence was. Jim Borrelli, a friend of Matsuki, said she and her husband have walked their dogs in the park previously. The couple did not live in the neighborhood, but he said she liked to find different places to walk the dogs. Residents said they often saw her walking them in the area. Borrelli said Matsuki's husband, who is out of town and trying to fly home, sent him to the park to get more information after being contacted by Davie Police. Borrelli said he was also asked to break the news to the couple's son, who is in his 20s and lives in New York. 'I'm praying that nothing happened to her,' Borrelli said. Police divers arrive at Silver Lakes Rotary Nature Park on Friday after an arm is found inside an alligator's mouth Davie police are pictured on scene where woman is believed to have been dragged by an alligator A man who identified himself as Matsuki's brother and several other family friends gathered at the scene. He declined to talk but friends described the missing woman as a great friend who loved to cook. Alligators are known to become more active in the spring and early summer as temperatures heat up. The nature park is popular among dog walkers and has two large bodies of water. One woman on social media claims to have seen a 7ft alligator swimming in the water earlier this week. Another woman told Local 10 that her poodle vanished near the water at Christmas and that she suspected it had been eaten. The lake at the nature park is sprawling and one of many. Earlier this week, another local reported seeing a '7ft alligator' swimming in it Local resident Amy Brehm told DailyMail.com that she was at the park on Wednesday night and saw the alligator in the water. 'I was there with a friend, I go almost every day to watch the sun set. 'While we were sitting in the gazebo an alligator swims by just off the shore. The alligator just did laps around the lake. The park ranger had just left not even five minutes before I saw it. 'I waited around until nightfall for him to come back and tell him. I waited over an hour and he never showed so I left. 'The park is a known park for animals to swim in. There is even a rope swing that people jump off to swim in,' she said.<doc-sep>
The body of a Florida woman who went missing on Friday morning while walking her dogs has been found, and police suspect a 12-foot, 6-inch gator captured nearby is responsible for her death The body of a Florida woman who went missing on Friday morning while walking her dogs has been found, and police suspect a 12-foot, 6-inch gator captured nearby is responsible for her death. On Saturday, the law enforcement division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced that search teams had recovered the body of Shizuka Matsuki from the Silver Lakes Rotary Nature Park lake in Davie — not far from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “We would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Shizuka Matsuki,” the organization tweeted. “We will be conducting a thorough investigation into this incident.” Matsuki, 47, had last been seen at the lake near the Ft. Lauderdale lake walking her two dogs, a witness told Davie Police Detective Viviana Gallinal, CBS News reported. A short time later, she was gone, though her dogs were found still on leashes and barking towards the water. Trappers pulled an alligator from the lake hours later, NBC News reported. FWC officials then cut the reptile open and found a human arm inside, believed to be Matsuki’s. “After an initial necropsy, evidence was found that indicates that the victim of this incident was bitten by the alligator that was captured earlier today,” FWC spokesman Robert Klepper said, according to WSVN. Alligator Entering the Water Credit: Moelyn Photos/Getty One of Matsuki’s dogs also “got bit by the gator,” Davie Police Major Dale Engle told the Sun Sentinel. Her husband was out of town at the time of the attack, the paper reported. A neighbor told the Miami Herald that he had warned his wife not to walk near the nature park. “He had warned her not to take the dogs over to that place because they had seen gators before and it isn’t safe,” neighbor Peter Limia, 37, said. “She was just your ordinary soccer mom. It’s a tragedy.” The dogs, which are pit bulls, are currently with Broward County Animal Care, reported the Herald. Fatal Alligator Attacks Set New Record In Florida Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty REALTED VIDEO: Alligator Captured on Video in Same Location Where Boy Was Snatched by Alligator at Disney Hotel