Maryland Man Found Dead In Home With 100+ Snakes Died From Snake Bite

MARYLAND — Maryland's top medical examiner officially confirmed Wednesday the cause of death of a man found dead inside his home earlier this year with more than 100 snakes.

In an email to Patch, Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said that David Riston, 49, died of "snake envenomation," which is the exposure to a poison or toxin resulting from a bite or sting from an animal such as a snake.

According to the Charles County Sheriff's Office, on Jan. 19 at 6 p.m., officers responded to a single-family home in the 5500 block of Raphael Drive in Pomfret after receiving a call from a neighbor who requested a welfare check on Riston.

Deputies said the neighbor had not seen him in a day, so he went over to Riston's house, peered through a window and saw him lying unconscious on the floor.

After the neighbor called 911, firefighters and EMS arrived and forced their way into the front door where they ultimately pronounced Riston dead while making a surprising discovery at the same time.

Inside the house, deputies said first responders discovered more than 100 venomous and non-venomous snakes of different varieties in tanks situated on racks. The types of snakes found included pythons, rattlesnakes, cobras, black mambas and a 14-foot-long Burmese python, NBC 4 reported.

“Our chief animal control officer said in his more than 30 years of experience, he had not encountered this kind of thing before," Jennifer Harris, a county spokesperson, told the TV station at the time.

Charles County Animal Control worked with reptile experts to safely relocate the snakes, the sheriff's office said.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources told FOX 7 News that Riston held a valid captive reptile and amphibian permit in the state. However, the permit doesn't allow for venomous snakes to be kept as pets.

The state's medical examiner has ruled Riston's death accidental.