(TheRedAlertNews.com) – In a tragedy that is becoming more common in parts of the United States, an alligator attacked and killed an older woman in South Carolina while she was walking her dog.
The fatal alligator incident occurred at some point before 9:30 am EST on Tuesday on South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island, a barrier island and a Lowcountry resort town, The Washington Times reports.
You can watch a news video about the tragic killing further down this post.
Local sheriff’s deputies were alerted about a possible alligator attack that occurred in the Spanish Wells community on the island, close to a lagoon bordering a golf course, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Even though the first responders who arrived at the scene were able to locate the unresponsive body of a 69-year-old woman, the reptile predator appeared and prevented them from retrieving it right away.
According to ABC News, the rescue effort involved the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue, the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office, and Spanish Wells security personnel.
“An alligator appeared and was guarding the woman,” the sheriff’s office said.
The woman’s body was recovered only after the deputies relocated the alligator. The announcement indicated that the animal dragged its victim into the water and then dragged out her corpse.
“Deputies learned that the woman was walking her dog earlier this morning when the attack occurred,” the sheriff’s office said.
“It is not clear at this point where she was taken into the water,” it added.
According to reports, the woman, who was a resident of the Spanish Wells community, was walking her dog at the edge of the lagoon when the alligator targeted her.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office was yet to conduct an autopsy.
This is the second alligator attack fatality in the county over the past year, after, in August 2022, a reptile predator killed an 88-year-old woman.
The alligator attacked his victim after emerging from a lagoon near her home.
In another similar case, in February 2023, an 85-year-old woman was killed by an alligator in Florida. The attack in Fort Pierce, Florida, was committed by a 10-foot alligator.
The victim was a local retirement community resident walking her dog along a nearby retention pond.
Here’s the video:
Authorities have recovered the body of a woman killed by an alligator while walking her dog by a lagoon on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, marking the second fatal gator attack in the past year. @VictorOquendo reports. https://t.co/D5tVeGrGis pic.twitter.com/eQhCXT2bY1
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) July 5, 2023
