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Police Need Your Help To ID Body Found As Gators Fed

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DAVIE (CBSMiami) - Davie Police are asking for the public's help to identify the body of a man found in Southwest Ranches as at least one alligator was feeding on him.

On Friday, authorities released a composite sketch of the man along with a description.

Police say he is a black male, about 50 to 60 years old, about 5'6-5'8 and weighing in at about 200 pounds. He had brown eyes, dark hair and was unshaven. He had no teeth left other than his two rear molars and no tattoos.

Investigators were able to obtain fingerprints for comparison.

At last check, they were waiting for the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office to fill in some of the blanks in the case.

The man's body was found Monday by two fisherman in a canal west of U.S. 27, just north of Sheridan Street.  Police sharpshooters stood guard as a dive team pulled what was left of the body from the water.

Davie officers attempted to scare off the alligators so they could recover the body. Although they retreated, the gators didn't go far.

Police said the man's body was largely intact but badly decomposed. Investigators believe the man was dead before the gators began to feed on his body.

A day after the gruesome find two Davie police officers found something of significance along the canal bank. Crime scene investigators were called and documented the evidence. Police have not said what was found.

It will be up to the medical examiner's office to give the police a place to start as they try to figure out who the man was and how he ended up there.

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