(ReclaimingAmerica.net) According to local officials, an older woman in South Carolina was killed by an alligator while walking her dog.
This tragic event happened sometime before 9:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday on Hilton Head Island, a popular vacation spot in South Carolina, as reported by The Washington Times.
You can watch a video of the tragedy further down this post.
Local law enforcement from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the possibility of an alligator attack in the Spanish Wells neighborhood on the island, near a lagoon by a golf course.
When emergency services arrived at the scene, they found the lifeless body of a 69-year-old woman. However, the alligator returned and stopped them from retrieving the woman’s body immediately.
According to ABC News, the rescue operation involved several parties, including officers from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue, the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office, and security from Spanish Wells. The sheriff’s office reported, “An alligator appeared and was guarding the woman.”
The woman’s body was finally recovered after the officers managed to move the alligator away. They believe the alligator pulled the woman into the water before dragging her body back out. The officers said, “Deputies learned that the woman was walking her dog earlier this morning when the attack occurred.” However, they added that exactly where she was pulled into the water is currently unclear.
The woman, who lived in the Spanish Wells community, was walking her dog near the lagoon when the alligator targeted her. The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office is yet to perform an autopsy.
This incident marks the second alligator-related death in the county in the last year. In August 2022, another older woman, aged 88, was killed by an alligator that emerged from a lagoon near her home. In a separate incident, in February 2023, an 85-year-old woman in Florida was killed by a 10-foot alligator while walking her dog near a local pond.
Here is 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
