(CNN) A man who was found dead in a Kiawah Island, South Carolina, pond with bite marks and wounds believed to be from an alligator did not die as a result of those bites, according to the Charleston County coroner's office.

An autopsy revealed that 79-year-old John Elias died of natural causes.

"The results of the autopsy indicate that Mr. Elias died of natural causes prior to being found by the alligator. The injuries he sustained were post-mortem in nature," Coroner Rae Wooten said in a news release.

The autopsy results indicate an elderly man died of natural causes prior to being found by an alligator at a pond in Kiawah Island.



SCDNR located and euthanized the alligator Sunday. The contents of the animal's digestive tract were collected as a part of the autopsy process. pic.twitter.com/CcDDXH9m6t — SCDNR (@SCDNR) June 25, 2019

Elias lived adjacent to the pond where he was found Saturday afternoon after he was reported missing that morning, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

The agency said that the injuries were consistent "with an encounter with a large alligator" which prompted a search for an alligator "known to inhabit the pond."

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