Gator returns after nearly two weeks missing

The alligator that vanished from a Park Hill school reappeared just as mysteriously Monday. 

The gator was part of a petting zoo at Lakeview Middle School on Thursday, May 23. During the school day, the two-year-old gator, named Alex, vanished. Over the next few days, the gator garnered attention from the local media and several search efforts were launched. 

The search was called off last Wednesday, but on Monday morning, June 3, a janitor found Alex outside one of the doors of the middle school. He was relocated to the KC Pet Project for veterinary care and will be returned to Thorni Ridge Exotics Mobile Petting Zoo. 

“We are grateful for our community’s support in being aware of the missing alligator and even helping to look for it in some instances,” the Park Hill School District stated via a release. “We are glad the alligator was found safely.”