A grisly discovery unfolded in Houston where a woman's body was found being gnawed on by an alligator, Houston police said. The unsettling scene took place on the 15800 block of Brook Forest Drive near Clear Lake. Police received a distressing call Tuesday morning leading them to the deceased woman, whose identity has yet to be disclosed, according to FOX26Houston.

Detectives have not yet determined how the woman died as the investigation continues, with reports on Wednesday morning still, lacking clarity on the circumstances of her demise. KTRK reveals that the woman had been previously reported missing and her body was discovered in the jaws of an alligator along Horsepen Bayou. After happening upon the macabre scene, responding officers were compelled to euthanize the animal.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division spokesperson Maggie Berger offered condolences, stating, "Our thoughts are with the woman's family during this time." ABC13 reported that an autopsy is forthcoming to ascertain the definitive cause of death. The case, being treated as a homicide by Houston police, is still enveloped in the early shrouds of investigation.

Local residents express unease, familiar with the alligator population but stunned by such a horrific incident. "That's the first time I've heard of that happening down here. It's a little scary," Angela Derous, who was fishing nearby that same evening told ABC13. Fatal encounters with alligators are exceptionally rare in the region, the last having occurred in 2015 in Orange, making this incident all the more jarring for the Clear Lake community.