At least one expert thinks the large reptile spotted at a pond in Loveland last summer has probably died.

Loveland officials closed Jayhawker Pond and a 30-acre recreation area last July. A Loveland boy who was fishing there said something lunged at him.

"We were getting ready to fish and all of a sudden something big, greenish-black, jumped out of the water and tried to get onto the dock," Andrew Kapono had said.

Other residents reported seeing the giant reptile in the waters, describing it as a 7-foot-long creature.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife set up traps, but never caught anything.

It's thought the animal was likely a caiman someone raised as a pet, then dumped when it got too big.

One zoologist said if it's a caiman, it could survive on the ice, but probably not the winter in a pond.