OXFORD — Indiana State Police are investigating a woman’s death after she was found with a python around her neck.

Benton County sheriff’s deputies responded to 609 North Dan Patch Drive shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday on a report of an unresponsive woman.

Deputies arrived to find a Laura Hurst, 36, Battle Ground, on the floor with an 8-foot python wrapped around her neck.

Medics pronounced the woman dead.

Hurst absolutely loved snakes. She had more than 20 of them.

But state police say a visit to check on them turned deadly Wednesday night.

“She got this other snake out, I do not believe belonged to her, but she got the snake out and what happened after that we are still trying to figure out,” said public information officer Sgt. Kim Riley.

It happened in a home owned by Benton County Sheriff Don Munson — used specifically to house more than 140 snakes. It was Munson who found Hurst dead.

“Local authorities showed up, they rendered first aid, tried to revive the female but she was not able to be revived,” Riley said.

The sheriff called it a tragic accident and said no one should handle a snake larger than 6 feet by themselves.

While it appears Hurst was killed by the snake, investigators are awaiting an autopsy for an official cause of death.