When a fire killed 43 reptiles at a Florida animal facility in June 2018, one particularly recognizable alligator was missing. Snowball, a mostly white alligator with blue eyes, had disappeared.
The blaze happened near Bushnell in Sumter County on June 22, 2018. Contemporary reports attributed the investigation to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and described the fire as deliberately set.
A missing animal amid the losses
WKMG News 6 reported on June 26 that investigators said someone entered an enclosure and used an accelerant. Forty-three alligators and crocodiles died. Snowball, described as leucistic, was missing afterward.
Robbie Keszey, known for the Discovery Channel series Swamp Brothers, told the station he believed Snowball had been taken. His estimate that the animal was worth about $100,000 was an owner’s valuation, not a verified sale price.
WFTV’s contemporary report likewise covered the missing alligator and suspected theft during the intentionally set fire. Those reports document what investigators and the owner were saying in 2018.
Do not turn an old appeal into a new development
The case is often reshared as a mystery about an exceptionally rare animal. Its unusual appearance helps explain the attention, but the date and limits of the record matter.
The sources reviewed for this article do not establish Snowball’s present location or a final resolution of the investigation. It would therefore be premature to state that he has never been recovered, identify a perpetrator or describe a confirmed trafficking route.
It is also important not to confuse any photograph of a white alligator with Snowball. The supplied featured image has not been authenticated as a photograph of this particular animal.
The established story remains serious enough without additions: a deadly 2018 fire, dozens of lost animals and a distinctive alligator missing in its aftermath. Any claim about what happened next needs a dated update from investigators or the people caring for him.