The owner of a 100-pound snake that escaped from a pet store and strangled two young brothers as they slept in an apartment above has described the horrific moment he found their lifeless bodies.
Jean-Claude Savoie, who lives above the Reptile Ocean pet store in Campbellton in New Brunswick, Canada, went to check on Connor Barthe, 7, and his brother Noah, 5, at 6.30am on Monday.
'They were sleeping,' he said in an interview. But 'they didn't even open their eyes or nothing. I thought they were sleeping until I [saw] the hole in the ceiling. I turned the lights on and I [saw] this horrific scene.'
He explained: '[The snake] went through a ventilation system. I don't understand how it did it. It went through the ceiling... and the snake fell into the living room from the ceiling.'
Mr Savoie said that the boys were the sons of his best friend, Mandy Trecartin, and that they often stayed at his home, where they slept in the living room.
The night they were killed, he was hosting them at a sleepover with his own son, but the boy was in another room and was not harmed.
'My body is in shock. I don't know what to think,' he told the Global News. 'I feel like they're my kids.'
The boys are believed to have been strangled to death by the 100-pound, 14-foot African Rock Python, the News reported, but an autopsy is being carried out today to determine the exact cause of death.
A criminal investigation is also underway but so far no charges have been brought.
In yet another tragic twist, a New Brunswick government official said African rock pythons are not allowed in the province under the Exotic Wildlife Regulation.
Steven Benteau, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, said: 'It is illegal for anyone to keep any exotic species that is not listed in the regulation unless they have a permit from the Department of Natural Resources.
'If such an animal is found, it will be confiscated and the person who possesses the animal can be charged under the Fish and Wildlife Act.'
The snake was taken by authorities and has now been killed, a source close to the investigation told the Globe and Mail.
And in further bad news for Mr Savoie, a petition has been launched to shut down the shop over the way its animals were being treated. So far the Shut Down Reptile Ocean petition has only 185 signatures.
Following the heart-breaking news, a tearful Roland Trecartin, the boys' grandfather, told MailOnline: 'We're all in shock. The boys were sweethearts. Lovely, lovely children.'
He added that his daughter planned to release a statement.
Mr Savoie said that after finding the boys' bodies, he found the snake coiled in a hole nearby, held it down and put it in a cage.
He said he believes the creeping serpent, which he has owned for a decade, slithered upstairs into his apartment through the ventilation ducts and creeped into the ceiling.
It then fell through the ceiling and dropped onto the small boys from above. He said he believes the snake coiled around both children and crushed them as they slept together on the floor.
The snake is not usually handled by anyone in the store and Mr Savoie said he does not know how it escaped its cage in the pet shop.
'How he got loose, I don’t know,' a former employee, Tim Thomas, told the National Post. 'Because ever since Jean-Claude got full custody of his child, every cage had two locks on it, and one of them was a master lock and the keys to that were hung up in the laundry room.'
He added: 'Jean-Claude loved them kids and he would have never, ever put them in danger at all.'
Reptile Ocean is home to a veritable menagerie of exotic animals, including crocodiles, tarantulas, tortoises and numerous snakes.
The Post reports that the snake was a 14 to 16-foot African rock python that even its owner said was 'vicious' and was rarely handled.
Tim Thomas, a former Reptile Ocean employee, told the newspaper that when he learned of the tragedy, he immediately called Mr Savoie's best friend, Mandy Trecartin, who told him it was her boys who were killed.
Neighbor Diane Fournier confirmed to MailOnline that it was Connor and Noah who had been killed.
She described how she often saw the brothers happily playing together outside. They were fascinated by animals, she said, and often came over to pet her dog.
'The kids were always playing and laughing. They were really full of joy and lots of energy,' she said.
Facebook photos show both of the boys handling a small corn snake - called Mr Slithers - owned by their mother, a teleservices agent at Service New Brunswick, a local government agency.
Ms Fournier told MailOnline that Mr Savoie operated Reptile Ocean as both a pet shop and as a zoo. He kept numerous snakes and lizards and small crocodiles to sell, but he hosted tour groups.
'He always had kids going in there to visit like school kids and groups,' she said.
Ms Fournier said she she herself has touched the snake that is believed to have killed the boys. He often showed it off and kept it in a locked cage, she said.
The horrifying deaths of the two children shocked residents of the small city of 7,400 in northern New Brunswick.
'It’s very nerve-wracking. If one got out, how many else got out,' Ms Fournier said.
Lisa Janes, a co-owner and curator of Little Ray's Reptile Zoo, a private zoo and education program in Ontario, said that snakes do not usually regard humans as food.
'They attack because they're feeling scared or threatened, or because they smell food,' she told CBC, adding: 'We were absolutely shocked and saddened. Our condolences go out to the family.'
As a criminal investigation is launched, some experts said that it was very surprising that the snake attacked.
'It’s strange, I’m just trying to piece it together,' Lee Parker, the facilities manager at Ontario reptile zoo Reptilia, told CBC. 'They don't go on killing sprees... it doesn't make sense to me.'
Attacks by African rock pythons are rare, but not unheard of.
The last was in 2002, when a 10-year-old boy was killed and swallowed in Durban, South Africa. Three years prior, a three-year-old boy was killed by another rock python after escaping its cage in Centralia, Illinois.
Police said an autopsy on Tuesday will confirm the exact cause of death, though officials believe the boys were strangled by the snake.
Mr Savoie said he captured the snake and turned it over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It is believed the animal has now been killed.
An RCMP spokeswoman said the major crimes unit is investigating the case and will determine whether any criminal charges should be filed against the owner. So far none have been brought.
In a Facebook message, staff at Reptile Ocean wrote: 'Deepest sympathies goes out to the family of the children. A terrible accident without a meaning.'
Culled fromDaily Mail