Retired Fayette County veterinarian and pet alligator missing

FAYETTE COUNTY, Pa. — A retired Uniontown veterinarian who rehabilitates injured wild animals has been reported missing after leaving for a trip to an unknown destination with his pet alligator, police and family said Saturday.

James Ronald Davidson, 67, left his Woodstock Avenue home in South Union on Monday afternoon with Alli, a 3- to 4-foot long, brown and yellow alligator, and has not contacted his family since, police said.

Davidson was wearing dark pants, white shoes and a white jacket. He is driving a 2012 white Suzuki sedan with Pennsylvania license plate HPL4745, police said.

Kathleen Davidson, 64, said her husband is diabetic. He uses a cane because half of one foot and three toes on the other foot have been removed, she said. He failed to take his medications or walker with him, she said.

James Davidson received some bad news from his doctor on Monday, his wife said. She declined to provide specifics. When he got home, he said he was going on a trip.

Davidson went as planned to visit her daughter in Washington, Pa. They decided to return to talk James Davidson out of the trip. When they arrived, he and Alli were gone.

Police stopped Davidson in Gainesville, Fla., on Wednesday morning. State police said they have been unable to contact the Florida officer to learn the reason for the stop. They did not detain him because he was not reported missing until later that day.

"I waited until Wednesday (to) give him time to call us, thinking he's been on the road, maybe he'll call," Kathleen Davidson said.

She believes he might be heading possibly to the Everglades to release Alli.

Her husband bought the gator at a reptile show in Waynesburg a few years ago, and had mentioned returning the gator to the wild.

They have frequently visited the Everglades, but the release plan is "only what we're assuming," she said.

"I hope Alli's playing in the water somewhere and that he's heading back," she said.

Davidson said her husband owned his own veterinary practice in Uniontown for 35 years. He used to bring animals home for care, and he once patched a seagull's wing and put a cast on a fawn's leg.

She said he had two baby alligators - Bonnie and Clyde - flown from New Orleans to Pennsylvania several years ago, nursed them back to health and released them in North Carolina.

Anyone with information can call state Trooper Thomas Carter at 724-439-7111.

This article was written by Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE.

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