EUNICE, La. — We have an update on the alligator meat story! We found the owner and caught up with him several months after the accident.
"Oh, the best kind of meat, I would be so upset!" said one driver passing through.
"I bet that is a lot of money being thrown away," said another driver.
"First, I had about eight calls from friends, and they were like, is that your alligator meat? And I was like, what?" said Jeff DeRouen.
A truck carrying a load of alligator meat spilled all over the highway between Mud Avenue and Evangeline Thruway.
"We lost about $4,000 to $6,000," said DeRouen
He says he appreciates the assistance of D-O-T-D, who came and helped clean up the mess, but he couldn't say the same about the whole ordeal.
"I wasn't happy by any means, but my wife had to calm me down, and then everything was good after that," said DeRouen.
Jeff operates Prairie Cajun Brands, an alligator and seafood processing plant. DeRouen processes alligator meat and runs a small belt and apparel company. DeRouen, a busy man, also developed an artificial bait for the crawfish industry.
When he first heard about the accident, he didn't have to become an investigator to figure out what happened.
"It was all on highway traffic cameras; I saw the whole thing on video.
As for the driver, he never returned to work; I never saw him again," said DeRouen.
DeRouen did not fire the driver, but it's safe to see you later, alligator.
After the accident, DeRouen moved on and decided to give back to the community despite losing $6,000. He launched the 2023 Combination 3 contest: Who can bring us the three longest alligators?
There were three winners this year, with the grand prize winner, Gator Hunter Jeff Tyler, taking home $5,000 for catching gators 13 feet long. Other winners took home cash prizes totaling $5,000.
"This comes at a good time because because my wife just got out of the hospital," said DeRouen.
DeRouen says he puts on the contest yearly so the alligator business can stay alive and flourish.
In the end, DeRouen considers themselves fortunate because there was one piece of material that they did not lose in the accident.
"Thankfully, we took the skin off, so we were able to have purses but not dinner," said DeReouen.
If you want to purchase alligator meat or some leather fashions, DeReouen says you can visit the plant located at 1277 Highway 757, Eunice, LA, United States, Louisiana.
You can visit their Facebook page here.
