An alligator kills a 69-year-old woman in South Carolina, and the beast is found guarding her mutilated body at the edge of the lagoon near her home
A 69-year-old woman was killed by an alligator in South Carolina.
The beast was found guarding the victim’s mutilated body on the edge of a lagoon near her home and golf course on Hilton Head Island.
“Rescue attempts were made and an alligator emerged, guarded the woman and interrupted the rescue effort,” the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said.
“The alligator was safely removed from the area and the woman’s body recovered.”
The woman was walking her dog when the alligator attacked and killed her. This was the second fatal alligator attack in the county in less than a year.
The beast was found guarding the victim’s mutilated body at the edge of a lagoon near her home and golf course on Hilton Head Island (file photo).
Police were called along with the Hilton Head Island Fire Department, Beaufort County Coroner’s Office and Spanish Wells security personnel for a report of a possible alligator attack near a lagoon on the edge of the golf course.
Authorities responded to the attack around 9:30 a.m., which occurred near the community of Spanish Wells on Hilton Head Island.
Located in an upscale neighborhood in Beaufort County, Hilton Head Island is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live in South Carolina.
Although rescue efforts were made to save the woman, the alligator reappeared and guarded the woman, disrupting emergency response.
The woman was found lifeless and believed to be dead.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office is expected to perform an autopsy on the woman.
It is unclear at this point where the woman was placed in the water. The condition of the woman’s dog is also not known at this time.
Alligator attacks in South Carolina have increased in recent years.
There have been no major alligator attacks in the state for years, but five alligator attacks were reported in South Carolina in 2022, two of which were fatal.
In February of this year, an 85-year-old woman was mauled to death by a 10-foot alligator while trying to free her dog from the reptile’s claws near a Florida pond.
The retiree was walking her dog Monday at the Spanish Lakes Fairways community pond in Fort Pierce when the 700-pound alligator jumped out of the water and grabbed the dog.
The woman was trying to free the dog from the alligator’s mouth when the reptile attacked her and dragged her into the pond, an eyewitness told CBS News.