A CREW MEMBER ON A LAND OIL RIG IN AMAZONAS WENT OUT AND TOOK A NAP. YES, A NAP. HE WAS MISSING AND THIS IS WHAT THEY FOUND.

Before jumping to the conclusion that whoever captioned these images knew what they were talking about, consider that this is only one of several versions of the email in circulation, each telling a slightly different story. Another variant, otherwise identical, claims the incident happened in Venezuela. Still another says it occurred in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Another specifies the locale as the Philippines.

The victim's identity is almost as variable as the setting. Often the victim is said to be an oil worker, sometimes a hunter, sometimes a camper, and, in at least one case, a child:

Apparently, three boys were sleeping in the jungle in South America when the other two woke up, one was missing and a huge snake was laying next to them. You'll see the snake in the first two photo's with the boy inside and the third one is when they cut the snake open to reveal the boy. You have to see this..... Unbelievable...

The variant below, collected in March 2001, claims it "really happened" to a hunter camped out in the Brazilian rain forest:

Unbelievable but true

Just remember .... things could always be worse.

Be careful when you go camping.

This really happened In Brazil...Three Locals went hunting in the forest and did the usual during the day, they went to sleep. When they woke up the next morning, one of the guys was missing...

The other two searched for their missing friend and when they ran across this anaconda with a huge lump..... well they caught the anaconda and took it to town since they feared that their friend was the victim. Surprise: it was!

He was swallowed in one piece by a 17 FT anaconda. That's not a way anyone wants to go.