South Carolina man found in pond wasn’t killed by alligator

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Authorities in South Carolina say a man found dead in a pond with alligator bites did not die in a gator attack.

News outlets are reporting that an autopsy completed Tuesday on 79-year-old John Elias shows he died of natural causes on Saturday before being bitten by the alligator.

A Charleston County Sheriff’s report says Elias was doing yard work by a lake behind his house when he went missing.

Search crews found his body hours later. The alligator was found and killed on Sunday.