A 45-year-old man was found dead in a wooded area near Lake Placid in Florida in an alleged animal attack, according to reports by the Highland County Sheriff.
Authorities have captured six dogs, who they said had bite sized that matched the wounds on Melvin Olds Jr.’s body. However, they will have to wait for the results of the DNA test to confirm if the dogs are the killers.
Olds was a father of five and a grandfather. Cynthia Hill, his mother, told WFLA that her son did not take his usual way home, instead took a shortcut through a wooded path and never came home. Olds’ body was last seen alive a few hours earlier, before his body was found before noon Thursday.
Though the authorities captured the dogs in the area, Sheriff Paul Blackman reminds residents to be wary of stray dogs.
“While we may have the dogs that were responsible for this horrible tragedy, we won’t know for sure for a while,” Blackman said. “I want to encourage residents of Highway Park and the surrounding area to be on the lookout for any loose dogs, especially those that seem aggressive. We don’t want anyone else to be injured.”
Nearly 1 in 5 people require medical attention after getting bitten by a dog, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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