Daughter told gruesome details of mum's death in jaws of 14ft alligator
Deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office found Sabrina Peckham's lifeless body in the maw of a massive, nearly 14-foot alligator that crawled out of a creek in their jurisdiction.
The ensuing investigation unearthed several gruesome details about Ms Peckham's death, and her daughter, Breauna Dorris, was among the first to learn about what happened. But as it continues, she's still looking for answers — she wants to know why this happened to her mother and if it could have been prevented.
The horrific discovery was made by a passerby who spotted the giant beast as he strolled through a neighbourhood in Largo, Florida — a city about 15 miles northwest of Saint Petersburg — around 1.30pm on Friday, September 22.
The massive alligator dragged Sabrina into the water as she walked to or from her camp (Today)JaMarcus Bullard had been walking to a job interview when he spotted what he thought was a mannequin in the giant beast's maw, he told WTVT, but then he noticed the blood seeping through the gator's teeth and ran across the street to a fire station. At some point, he also threw a rock at it, noting that there was a school and other youth programming facilities nearby — he feared for the safety of the children.
The fire department confirmed that the gator was indeed munching on the lower torso of a human body and called for backup. Deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office arrived at about 1.50pm at McKay Creek, a waterway near the intersection of 134th Avenue North and 121st Street North, according to an official statement from the department.
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"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," the statement reads. "Deputies assigned to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team also recovered the remains of a deceased adult from the waterway."
JaMarcus Bullard discovered the brute with Sabrina in its mouth as he walked to a job interview (WFLA)Ms Peckham was autopsied, but an official cause of death has yet to be released, the sheriff's office said on Saturday, September 23. Breauna told The Mirror US in an exclusive interview that the medical examiner said the toxicology reports and other vital information regarding her mother's death might take weeks to be released.
What Breauna said is known, however, is the unofficial timeline of her mother's last night. "It appears as though she may have been walking to or from her campsite where she was sleeping at the time," she told The Mirror US. "It was nighttime when it happened. It was too dark for her to see it possibly on the banks or wherever it may have been.”
"It appears it just grabbed her and pulled her in," Breauna added about the gator. "Most people will tell you, ‘They won’t bother you unless you bother them,’ but the reality of it is that it is a wild animal, and if it does get hungry… You know."
Ms Peckham knew about alligators and what they can do to humans (Breauna Dorris)
Ms Peckham likely couldn't see the alligator in the middle of the night when it attacked her (Gofundme)She made it clear that she doesn't believe her mother taunted the alligator — as a Florida native, she said Ms Peckham knew better and was well aware of what alligators are capable of. "Being that she's not living or sleeping too far from the area, I doubt the last thing that she wanted was a pissed-off alligator," she said.
It's unclear where exactly her mother was when she encountered the giant gator, but John S. Taylor Lake Park is nearby and is known to boast its fair share of the brutes, a spokesperson for the Pinellas County government told The Mirror US. He said there are signs warning parkgoers about the reptiles "at all entry points and within the park," specifically along the mile-long Taylor Lake.
But being that it was dark, Breauna raised suspicions about her mother being able to see those signs. She also said she took a trip to the area and saw none, at least along the road where her mother's body was found, which is slightly south of the park's main area and the lake.
It's unclear whether there were alligator warning signs in the area where Ms Peckham's body was found — but there are some in the nearby park (WFLA)"People are saying, 'There were signs posted.' But in reality, if you go out, there are no signs posted anywhere about gators being in that creek, so I feel like if there were gators in that creek and people did know about them, there probably should have or would have been signs posted," she said.
"If you go out to where they found her, the same bridge where she was found, and you just look around that street anywhere, there are no signs about gators anywhere," she clarified.
She added that "it would be nice for some accountability." The spokesperson said he wasn't sure whether there were signs down by 134th Avenue North, just that he knew there were several in and around the park.
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A spokesperson for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office told The Mirror US said the office was unable to provide any more information about the investigation or the circumstances surrounding Ms Peckham's death. "Because it's an open investigation, we can't provide any information that isn't already on the press release," the spokesperson said.
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