Butler man’s alligator may have been spotted in Kiski River
A Butler reptile keeper believes that he may have found his missing pet alligator after nearly two weeks of searching.
Over the past weekend, two kayakers spotted an alligator roaming the Kiski River in Armstrong County and captured it on video. The couple who made the sighting, Theresa Jeroski and Heath Evans, estimated that the gator they spotted was approximately 20 inches long.
It just so happens that Butler resident Austin Randall has been looking for his pet alligator, Neo, for the past three weeks.
Neo, who has been missing since Aug. 29, is said to be 2 feet long, nearly matching the estimated length of the gator that was caught on video over the weekend.
Randall told the Butler Eagle on Tuesday, Sept. 19, that he believes the alligator seen in footage is Neo, but offered no further comment.
Neo went missing just before Labor Day weekend, when Randall took him to the home of a friend in Kiskiminetas Township. The friend, alligator expert Dominic Hayward, was to place Neo in a larger enclosure while Randall searched for a new house in Williamsport.
However, during the transfer, Neo escaped and waddled away in the direction of the Kiski River before Randall or Hayward could catch him.
The Kiski River has been the site of several alligator sightings over the past few months. In August, another alligator — nicknamed Chomper by some residents — was spotted near the river and eventually captured. Chomper was transferred to a reptile rescue facility in Pittsburgh.
If that wasn’t complicated enough, Kiskiminetas Township Police have recently received reports of yet another alligator, believed to be 4.5 feet long.
The chief of Kiskiminetas Township Police did not respond to requests for comment.
