NEWS-PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 28 June 05 Snake collector's death stumps investigators (Denes Husty III)
Medical examiners will have to determine how a 26-year-old North Naples snake collector died, a sheriff's official said.
Robert Daniel Griffin, 26, was found dead inside his house Sunday by his wife, Tiffany Griffin, reports state.
According to sheriff's reports:
Officers who were called to the house at 11:35 a.m. Sunday found more than 40 snakes inside the home at 755 102nd Ave. N.
Three of those snakes, all varieties of cobras, were poisonous and were taken away by state wildlife officers, said Sheri Mausen, a sheriff's spokeswoman.
Just what killed Griffin still is being investigated, she said.
Officers found no apparent snakebites on Griffin and all the snakes were in cages, Mausen said.
His wife told officers that her husband had been bitten by a python recently, but pythons are not poisonous, Mausen said.
The case has been turned over to Collier County medical examiners who will conduct tests to determine the cause and manner of Griffin's death, Mausen said.
Snake collector's death stumps investigators