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Cobra believed to have killed teen found dead

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[h=4]Cobra believed to have killed teen found dead[/h]AUSTIN —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Police here say they have found the cobra they believe bit a teen earlier this week, killing the .

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A cobra who is believed to have killed a local teen has been found dead according to police in Austin, Texas. The cobra went missing after biting 18-year-old Grant Thompson. VPC


The missing cobra, which earned the hashtag #AustinCobra on Twitter, was found dead Friday, July 17, 2015, three days after it went missing.(Photo: Tina Shively, KVUE-TV, Austin)



AUSTIN —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Police here say they have found the cobra they believe bit a teen earlier this week, killing the teen. The snake, that had been missing for days, was found dead early Friday morning near the parking lot where it was believed to have disappeared.
Police had been searching for a monocled cobra, which is black with a distinctive circle on its back and a tan under belly.
A driver who worked where the snake went missing spotted it along the Interstate 35 service road.
Animal control officers said they believed it was the same snake because it is the same type as the one they were looking for which is not native to the area.
The snake was put into refrigeration and will be kept as evidence in the death of Grant Thompson, 18, who died late Tuesday.
USA TODAY
Police searching for cobra in Texas teen's death




An animal control supervisor was glad the cobra didn't have the opportunity to potentially hurt anyone else.
"It's probably the lightest traffic on I-35 in Austin right now, so it was perfect timing (to spot the snake)," said Mark Sloat, an Animal Protection supervisor. "That combined with keen eyes really paying attention ... it worked out well."
According to Austin-Travis County EMS, crews responded to a welfare check request Tuesday to a Lowe's parking lot<span style="color: Red;">*</span>near the southbound Interstate 35 service road. Police found Thompson unresponsive in his vehicle.
Thompson was pulled from the vehicle and appeared to have puncture wounds on the wrist.
Thompson was taken to the hospital in critical condition, according to officials. He died later that evening.
Austin police and animal control did not find any venomous animals inside Thompson's vehicle. One specialist called to the scene said he was a little nervous.
"It's a little scary, I don't have a lot of experience with that. ...<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The fact that we didn't know what kind of species the cobra was, we had very little information," said Giovanni Gracia. "We got into the car and got everything out of it, searched as well as we could, looked into the engine, under it, the wheel wells."
“People were coming in and it didn't matter if they were 18, 28 or 38; they all wanted to see the Reptile Guy.”
Bob Bonneau, former owner of The Fish Bowl
Police did find one non-venomous snake in a crate in his vehicle, six tarantulas and a bullfrog, police said. The reptiles were taken to Austin Reptile Rescue.
When officials checked Thompson's home in Temple, Texas, they found a cobra was missing. A spokesperson for Lowe's said they were confident the cobra was not in its store or on its property.
Initial autopsy results for Thompson came back neither positive or negative for snake venom; instead the official paperwork said it is still "pending investigation."
The clerk in the office said that is common with toxicology cases, and it could take up to 14 weeks to determine whether snake venom killed Thompson.
The 18-year-old was known in his hometown as "The Reptile Guy." Thompson worked at an exotic pet store called The Fish Bowl.
Thompson's mother bought the store from the original owner, Bob Bonneau. Bonneau, who owned the store for 33 years, said Thompson "was a customer from years back so we knew Grant, and he couldn't wait until he was 14 so he could start working at The Fish Bowl."
Bonneau said Thompson's passions were clear from the start.
"Everybody that came in had their little deal. They either liked the birds or reptiles or fish or little furry animals," he said. "He was always prone to the reptiles. ... He had an official title: he was The Reptile Guy. People were coming in and it didn't matter if they were 18, 28 or 38; they all wanted to see the Reptile Guy."
Exotic snakes are legal in Texas with a permit, according to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. The department said Thompson had a permit to possess and transport snakes.
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