“Single mother disappears in the Everglades.” That was the headline that startled Florida on a steamy summer morning. Anna Mitchell, 30, was a devoted mother to her son Lucas, who was just a year old. She had intended to go to Everglades National Park for a short trip. Friends remembered how happy she was. She had always loved nature and wanted to show her baby how pretty the marshes were. But she didn’t come back that day.
The cops said that Anna’s car was parked neatly at the park entrance. Anna’s wallet and baby bag were inside, but not her. There was just a stroller left near the start of the route, and there were no tracks leading away from it. Panic spread quickly. How could a young mother suddenly leave in the middle of the day?
Search teams combed the park for weeks. Bloodhounds, drones, and boats looked for people in the wetlands. There were posters all across Florida with Anna’s happy face on them. One was taken just a few days before she kissed her kid on the couch as they were laughing. Lucas’s granny had taken care of him while they were gone, but it was painful for everyone in the family to lose him. Anna’s mother, Elaine, wouldn’t believe that her daughter had suddenly disappeared. She cried and added, “Something happened out there.” “She wouldn’t just go.”
As the months went by with no trace of her, the case turned cold. People in the area spoke about what might have happened: maybe she got lost in the deep swamp, maybe an alligator attacked her, or maybe she ran into someone dangerous. The rangers shook their heads. More people than most people realized died in the Everglades. A year later, Anna’s family was still heartbroken and didn’t know what to do.
The rangers were on a typical patrol in the marshes when they discovered a large Burmese python sleeping on a rock that the sun had warmed. The snake’s belly was far bigger than the birds or marsh bunnies it usually ate. When they discovered out, the officers were worried. People had been tagging and tracking the snake for months, but no one had truly cared until recently. The bulge didn’t look right.
When wildlife officials collected the snake to look at it, they had no idea that it was the horrific clue that led to a family’s year-long search for a missing member.
When they relocated the python to a safe place, wildlife experts were very careful. It was one of the biggest snakes caught in the Everglades that year. It was about eighteen feet long and weighed more than 200 pounds. Even seasoned rangers were frightened about how big its midsection was. “That’s not a hog,” one of them said as the crew got set to do the necropsy. Everyone in the room knew that Burmese pythons were taking over the Everglades, but this one seemed different.
When the test started, the truth came out in bits and pieces. Something that left the room in astonishment created the bulge, not a deer or wild pig. The python’s stomach was full of the bones, pieces of clothing, and jewelry of a woman who had perished. The lights were really bright, but the jewelry still shined.
Forensic experts quickly connected the find to the woman who had been missing for a year. The necklace, a small silver locket with the name “Lucas” on it, looked a lot like the one Anna Mitchell always wore in pictures. They asked Elaine’s mother to tell them what it was. She fell apart when she saw the locket and gripped it like it was her daughter’s heart.
The news shook up the whole neighborhood. For months, people had been making crazy ideas about where Anna had gone. Some people feared Anna had been taken, while others thought she had just run away. There was no way to reject the sad answer now. One of the Everglades’ deadliest beasts had assaulted Anna.
But the detectives couldn’t quit wondering how she had found the python in the first place. Experts say that Burmese pythons hunt by surprise. They hide in the dense grass and wait quietly until they attack with surprising quickness. Anna might have felt safe venturing a short distance off the route because she was by herself and didn’t have her baby with her. One false move near where the snake was hiding sealed her fate.
As officials spoke, reporters flocked around the entrance to the park. “Python Found With Human Remains of Missing Mom” was the headline across the country. As conservationists repeated their warnings about the invasive species, Anna’s family had to face the painful fact of her last moments. Elaine gripped Lucas even tighter than usual. “He’ll grow up not knowing his mother,” she remarked in a hushed voice. “But he will know that she loved him.” Fun games for everyone in the family