A woman walking her dog on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina fell victim to a fatal alligator attack on Tuesday morning, July 4. 

This is the second fatal alligator attack reported in Beaufort County in less than a year.

Authorities of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene in response to a call concerning a possible alligator attack near a lagoon by a golf course in the Spanish Wells community, at around 9:30 am. They found a 69-year-old woman, unresponsive, near the water’s edge.

Rescue attempts were complicated by an alligator that seemed to be guarding the woman’s body. Measures were taken to remove the alligator safely, allowing for the body to be recovered.

From their investigation, authorities believe that the victim had been out walking her dog, found unharmed, when the alligator attacked. An autopsy is planned by the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office to confirm the cause of the woman’s death.

In response, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources dispatched a team of biologists and officers to the scene.

The incident follows the death of an 88-year-old woman from Sun City, who was also killed in an alligator attack near her home on August 15 in 2022.

Historically, fatal alligator attacks were unheard of in South Carolina until recent years. In 2020, a 58-year-old woman was killed by an alligator on Kiawah Island, prompting deputies to euthanize the animal. In 2019, a man’s body was found on Kiawah Island with suspected alligator bite marks, although his cause of death was undetermined. There were also incidents recorded in 2016 and 2018.

Before these recent cases, South Carolina had no documented fatalities from alligator attacks.