One dead after possible alligator attack on Hilton Head Island
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WTOC) - One person is dead following a deadly “alligator incident” on Hilton Head Island on Tuesday.
Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue, Beaufort County Coroner’s Office, and Spanish Wells security personnel responded to Brams Point Road in the Spanish Wells community for a report of a possible alligator attack near a lagoon bordering the golf course around 9:28 a.m.
The sheriff’s office said a 69-year-old resident of the community was found at the edge of the lagoon and appeared to be unresponsive. Rescue efforts were made when an alligator appeared, and was guarding the woman’s body, interrupting emergency efforts.
Police say the gator was safely removed from the area and the woman’s body was recovered.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office will do an autopsy on the woman to find a cause of death.
Deputies learned that the woman was walking her dog Tuesday morning when the possible attack happened. The sheriff’s office said it is not clear at this point where she was taken into the water.
This would be the second deadly alligator attack in Beaufort County in less than a year. In 2022, an 88-year-old Sun City woman was attacked by an alligator at a lagoon near her home.
Copyright 2023 WTOC. All rights reserved.
Source: WTOC
