Officials in Texas have found the remains of a woman in the jaws of an alligator.

Houston authorities were in the area looking for a missing woman when they discovered the body.

Identification of the remains has not yet been made.

Authorities shot and killed the alligator to stop it from doing more damage to the remains.

After the animal was killed, a diver went in the water to recover the remains from the dead alligator, officials said.

While Houston police are still awaiting autopsy results and identification of the remains, they believe the remains are of a woman in her 60's.

Their investigation will also determine if the alligator killed her or if the animal was scouring her remains after she was already dead.

Eight months ago a similar incident happened in Largo, Florida.

Officials there shot and killed a 13ft (4m) alligator after they found it walking along a street with a torso in its mouth.

The remains were later identified as that of 41-year-old Sabrina Peckham.

A few months before that a 10ft alligator killed an 85-year-old woman in Fort Pierce, Florida as she was walking her dog.

Alligator attacks are not uncommon in Florida where many alligators live, but in Texas where Tuesday's incident occurred, they are very rare.

The last time an alligator attacked a human in Texas was in 2015 when a 28-year-old man was killed while swimming in Orange, Texas, according to ABC 13.