An oganization that offered free removal of an alligator from the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth called off its search Wednesday.

The Virginia Beach-based wildlife recovery firm, Zoopro, Inc., said it would locate and capture the reptile, then move it to another location.

However, after more than a week of searching with Portsmouth police officers, the company is giving up.

On Tuesday, August 14, around 9:30 a.m., someone reported seeing the reptile in the water under the Clifford Street Bridge.

Then, around 4:15 p.m. someone reported seeing the alligator's head in the water near City Park. The person ran to the park to get a security officer, who 15 minutes later, also said the alligator was in the water.

Rose Dew, the Portsmouth Police Animal Control Supervisor, told WVEC.com that she’s been in contact with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, since alligators are federally protected.

“If it is an alligator, maybe it was a pet that was brought across state lines and it got too big and the owner let it loose,” she said.

Adam Bell says he initially didn't think the creature was anything unusual when he spotted it on the 14 along the Elizabeth River off Seagrove Road.

"At first we thought it was a snake, but we saw these two humps coming out and once it got closer, we realized it wasn't a snake and the two humps were the eyes and the snout of an alligator," he related. "It got pretty far out to the middle and there were two ducks swimming and it just jumped up and snapped one of the ducks and took it under and the other one flew away."

Bell believes the animal is about six feet long.

Dew, however, believes the animal is more like four feet long, based on reports, and that there are no indications it has been on land.

One of Animal Control’s first stops was Sterling Williamson's home.

Williamson is well known in the neighborhood for having exotic pets, including, at one time, several alligators living in his pond.

"We were in Keowa went night collecting and I caught seven babies and I brought them home for the entertainment of my children,” said Williamson.

Williamson says in the seventies the alligators got too big to handle, so he caught them and took them back where they came from. He says it's now been more than thirty years since he's had gators at his home.

"Nobody in the state of Virginia should even own one nor should they release it,” said Dew.

Police are urging people to stay away from the water, especially people crabbing at night. Animal Control officers say this is because alligators feed at night.