CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian farmer who found an orthopedic plate inside a crocodile's stomach says he has been told the surgical device is from a human and has been contacted by relatives of missing persons anxious for clues.

Koorana Crocodile Farm owner John Lever said on Thursday he found the plate inside a 4.7-meter (15-foot-5) croc called M.J. during an autopsy in June.

He initially wasn't sure if the unusual find had been part of an animal or human. But he has now been told it is a type used in human surgery.

Lever says M.J. could have eaten the bone that the plate had been attached to 50 years ago.

Lever bought M.J. from a farm six years ago. Sometime earlier, M.J. had been trapped in the wild.