Woman's body found in North Port septic tank

NORTH PORT, Fla. - North Port police said they found the body of a 74-year-old woman inside a septic tank behind her home Tuesday.

The woman lived in the 1000 block of Andulusia Street. Josh Taylor with North Port PD said it appears to have been a tragic accident.

"We believe she was out in her yard, watering her plants when this took place," Taylor said. "Our detectives have been working with the medical examiner's officer to go over the exact cause of death, but we believe this was just an accident."

Taylor said a family member who was in regular contact with the woman hadn't heard from her, so they called police for a welfare check. 

"It’s just terribly sad. I’m sure her family is distraught over this. Our thoughts prayers and love really go out to this family whose got to deal with this," Taylor said.

Meanwhile, a neighbor told investigators that a septic company was at the woman's home about a year ago. The neighbor said the company may have told the woman she needed a new tank.

"Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know. What that had to do with what ultimately happened, I don’t know if there’s a correlation or not," Taylor said. 

It's still unclear if there was an existing hole in the ground where the woman fell in, or if the tank and ground above it gave way under her.

The investigations into her cause of death and the cause of her being the tank are ongoing.