24 September 2023 , 06:45
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The sheriff's office has identified human remains found in the mouth of an alligator after officials killed the animal.
Sabrina Peckham, 41, was pronounced dead in the Tampa Bay area of Florida yesterday. Deputies rushed to the area of 134th Avenue North and 121st Street North at approximately 1.50pm on Friday after a body was seen in the waterway.
Jamarcus Bullard, who reported the sighting to authorities, was horrified when he noticed the gator was holding the victim's torso in its mouth. He told local station WFLA: "I threw a rock at the gator just to see if it was really a gator and like it pulled the body, like it was holding on to the lower part of the torso, and pulled it under the water." He then recorded the alligator with his phone and provided the footage to authorities.
The 13-foot-8.5-inch male alligator was "humanely killed" and removed from the water, the Pinella County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. The woman's next of kin has been notified and an autopsy will be carried out to establish her cause and manner of death.
Terri Williams, who was visiting the area when the incident happened, said she was shocked to see an alligator. She explained: "I would've never dreamt that an alligator would be in this area. Of course, I know there's a lake across the street, and I know about the lake in Taylor Park, but not in this neighborhood. No, I would have never thought that."
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Pinella County Sheriff's Office said in a statement: "On September 22, 2023, at approximately 1:50 p.m., deputies responded to the area of 134th Avenue North and 12th Street North in Unincorporated Largo, after a report of a body seen in the waterway. Throughout the course of the investigation, and with the assistance of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), a 13-foot, 8.5-inch male alligator was humanely killed and removed from the waterway. Deputies assigned to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team also recovered the remains of a deceased adult from the waterway.
"The medical examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. When identification of the deceased is determined and next of kin has been notified, it will be provided via media alert.
"Any citizen who has a concern regarding an alligator should call FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-392-4286. The investigation continues and all further updates will be provided via Media Alert."
Friday's incident comes just two months after an elderly woman was mauled to death in a South Carolina neighbourhood by an alligator while she was out walking her dog. The beast proceeded to guard the 69-year-old's corpse.
The creature was later relocated, taken away from the scene but not killed. A similar policy is implemented in Florida under the FCC's Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP).
Alligators over 4 feet in length that prowl residential or developed areas are generally considered a nuisance, and SNAP will remove them by using highly trained trappers. Then, the gators are relocated to remote areas when possible.
In other cases, the animals are euthenised. But with 1.3 million gators living in the state, the FWC said the removal of one "does not have a significant impact on our state's alligator population."