Shizuka Matsuki, 47, was last seen walking her two dogs in South Florida before her body was found miles away in a lake in Davie, Florida. There could be more that we arent aware of, SCDNR alligator program director, Jay Butfiloski previously said,. A 43-year-old man was attackedby an alligatorand treated for a "serious injury in his arm" onJuly 20and a 34-year-old man was bit on his face during a swim in a Florida lake onAug. 4. 1 Dead in Fatal Alligator Attack at South Carolina Retention Pond Near Myrtle Beach. In an extremely rare event, a South Carolina woman was killed in an alligator attack Friday on Kiawah Island, according to the Charleston County Sheriffs Office. The death on Friday was the first from an alligator attack in South Carolina since May 2020, when 58-year-old Cynthia Covert was dragged into a pond behind her friends home on Kiawah Island, near Charleston, according to The Post and Courier. The area in the Outer Banks is a favorite hangout spot for great white sharks, apparently. Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. You try to maintain distance from the banks, and when you see them out, you admire them from afar. The giant reptile was captured and euthanized on site. That said, South Carolina's Post and Courier reports that the state recorded five deaths resulting from alligator attacks between 2016 and 2022 but none in the previous 16 years. On Monday morning police responded to a report of an alligator attack at a pond inside the. Alligators are found throughout the Southeast and wetlands, with their range stretching as far west as eastern Texas, and as far east as coastal North Carolina, according toThe National Wildlife Federation. An 88-year-old woman was killed in an apparent alligator attack in South Carolina on Monday, officials said. As friends tried to yank her from the alligators grasp, she calmly said, I guess I wont do this again, moments before the alligator rolled and pulled her under the water, the newspaper reported. Outdoor Life - Katie Hill. In South Carolina, they can be found in the states coastal marshlands, according to the Department of Natural Resources. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. This is the first deadly alligator attack in the state since May 2020, according to authorities. Florida, which has the most human-alligator interactions, has recorded 24 deadly alligator attacks since 1948 but 14 of those have occurred in the last 20 years, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission data. This attack is the fourth reported in Charleston County history, according to SCDNR records. Becker's autopsy will be conducted Tuesday, officials said. or redistributed. In many instances, there are several of factors that contribute to an alligator attack. "He's so frightened," she told the operator. Then, the gator bit his leg. Alligators are naturally afraid of humans, but will attack in certain instances. The woman Covert was staying with said she didnt seem herself Friday and walked toward the alligator, which lunged and grabbed her in its mouth when she was about 4 feet away, deputies said. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "And then her husband, he was in charge with bocce years ago, and he passed away. A deputy had to shoot and kill the alligator to get Covert away from the animal . Stephen Benjamin, the former mayor of Columbia, S.C., will be the new senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement, replacing Keisha Lance Bottoms, the White House announced on Monday. All rights reserved. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, according to the Charleston County Sheriffs Office. ', Man Fatally Shot Ex-Girlfriend's Sister After Convincing Her to Pull Over on Road, Then Killed Himself, remembered by loved ones as being a "good friend. A woman in South Carolina was killed by an alligator Monday, the state's second deadly attack this year, authorities said.The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office and other emergency services were at . In July, a 75-year-old Callawassie Island woman was trimming plants near a community pond when an alligator latched onto her and pulled her into . Cynthia Covert, 58, died in the attack Friday afternoon on Kiawah Island, Charleston County deputies said. It was no walk in the park for a South Carolina man who saved his dog from an alligator attack during a morning stroll. According to a 2019 University of Florida analysis, venomous injuries largely from contact with hornets, wasps and bees resulted in an average of more than 56 fatalities per year in the United States, compared with about one per year from alligator attacks. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, a statement from the Horry County Police Department. Alligators do not have an instinct to attack humans, he says. She stated her husband tried hitting the alligator as the alligator kept dragging her friend back into the water.. It was at. Authorities previously confirmed to PEOPLE that Gloria Serge was "walking her small dog along a retention pool" in the Ft. Pierce community where she lived when an alligator, estimated to be around 10-feet long, "pulled her into the water.". Photo: Getty. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. In 1962, Fraser walked alongside an alligator named Albert for a magazine photoshoot that attracted attention from around the world. KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. A woman killed by an alligator at a South Carolina pond told a friend she wanted to get close to the animal and didnt scream as it attacked her and dragged her into the water, according to a police report. When Covert was about four feet from the edge of the water, the alligator attacked and dragged her into the water, according to the incident report. People building homes where alligators live have caused the increase in attacks, Mazzotti, a wildlife expert with the University of Floridas Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, tells TIME. Of those bites, 26 were fatal, meaning there was one fatal injury nearly every three years in the state. The following day, a person walking their dog discovered McGuiness' body along the lake's shoreline. Treat your dog like you would treat your child.. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. A man has died after an alligator attack in Myrtle Beach, S.C., June 24, 2022. When we got there thats exactly what we found, said Maj. Angela Viens, a public information officer with the Beaufort County sheriffs office. Messages left for the department were not immediately returned on Sunday. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. An officer observed the alligator and the victim surface in the water, the report said. The Associated Press. Mazzotti says people need to be aware of their surrounding when they are near water or in areas where they have been alligator sightings. "Anywhere there is standing water, an alligator might be found," The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement to USA TODAY. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Market data provided by Factset. It was at least the fourth deadly alligator attack in the United States so far this year. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The Florida conservation commission said in November 2021 there were 442 unprovoked alligator bites in Florida from 1948 to 2021, averaging six a year. Alligators are mostly concentrated in Florida and Louisiana but are present in several other states. On Aug. 11, Bruce Savage took his dog, Hanna, for a morning walk near. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office is investigating an alligator attack that left one person dead in Sun City. T he death of Cassandra Cline, a 45-year-old . However, the study at the time cited the need for a "uniform reporting system among states" to get more complete information on alligator encounters. But, theres a caveat. The South Carolina woman rescued by her neighbor as she was being attacked by an alligator is the second woman to have been attacked in such a manner on Hilton Head Island in only three years . While alligator attacks are rare in South Carolina, they are becoming more common. a man was killed looking for Frisbees on May 31 in Florida, another manwas killed near a retention pond in South Carolina on June 24, an 80-year-old Florida woman was killed along a golf course, run-ins with the reptiles near their homes, What to know if you're bitten by a rattlesnake, What should you do if you see a bear? She was a good friend to a lot of people in the park.". All rights reserved. Jurors on Wednesday visited the South Carolina estate where prosecutors say disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh shot and killed his wife and son, touring the crime scene before . Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. A person walking their dog discovered his body along the shoreline the next morning, the police said. ". An estimated 5 million wild American alligators live across 10 states in Southeast and beyond - even in the southeastern tip of Oklahoma. Such attacks are rare in the United States, typically occurring about once a year, but the latest one on Friday was the second in less than a month. Police said the victim, whose identity has not been released yet, was recovered from the pond and the alligator was removed. This same shark off the coast of the Outer Banks began its tracking in . Firefighters used poles to get Covert out of the pond but she died at the hospital, authorities said. "Our hearts go out to the family and community members impacted by this tragic incident," a statement from police said. Alligator attacks are very rare, even in Louisiana and Florida. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) officials urge residents and tourists to never feed alligators as it makes them more aggressive toward humans. Cynthia Covert, 58, drowned Friday after an alligator repeatedly pulled her into a pond on Kiawah Island, according to a report from the Charleston County Sheriff's Office. First responders were then able to pull the womans body from the water. "She fell down and [it] took her.". ': Hot, hungry alligators are taking lonely strolls in Florida. And you know, she's been alone. Weeks earlier, Florida police found a deceased 47-year-old man in agator-infested lakemissing three limbs after a likely encounter with alligators. Covert, of Johns Island, made no sound as the alligator pulled her under, the woman told police. "Splashing in the water will attract analligators interest, and if it perceives at that point in time that there's something smaller and weaker in the water, it might attack it," Mazzoti said. Her death has been. The latest was at least the fourth in the United States since May and the second this year in South Carolina. Updated on: August 15, 2022 / 7:34 PM The creature is most abundant in Louisiana and Florida, with each state having a population of over 1 million alligators. "Our prayers go out to the loved ones of the victim and the Spanish Lakes' residents who knew the victim and witnessed the attack," Sheriff Ken Mascara said in a statement shared on social media. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. There are an estimated 100,000 alligators in South Carolina alone. ST. LUCIE COUNTY Three more alligators have been removed from the Spanish Lakes Fairways community in northern St. Lucie County after an 85-year-old woman died following a Monday alligator . Nancy Becker, 88, was gardening at her living community when she slipped and fell into a lagoon that was home to an alligator. The woman's husband and another man tried beating the alligator with shovels, but the animal swam deeper, the police report said. The officers were called to a pond on Kiawah Island around 5 p.m. and saw. In an extremely rare event, a South Carolina woman was killed in an alligator attack Friday on Kiawah Island, according to the Charleston County Sheriff's Office . The 10-foot alligator, estimated at 400-500 pounds, then attacked Covert, who officials said was 5 feet tall and 100 pounds. One officer was able to shoot the animal as it surfaced again, police said. An 88-year-old woman was killed in an apparent alligator attack in South Carolina on Monday, officials said. Officials identified the woman as Nancy A. Becker, a resident of Sun City Hilton Head, who they believe was gardening near the pond and slipped into the water, where she was attacked by the alligator. The unnamed victim was found last Friday around 11:45 a.m. near Excalaber Court outside of . The victim, identified as Cynthia Covert, was dragged into a pond behind her friend's home on Kiawah Island, near Charleston, and said calmly, "I guess I won't do this again," as her friend tried to pull her away from the alligator. After the attack, the FWC said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that the alligator was captured and killed by a contracted nuisance alligator trapper. For reference, you have a better chance of getting attacked by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A giant alligator weighing nearly 1,000 pounds was caught in Lake Marion. In those two years, South Carolina harvested around 300 alligators every year, according to SCDNR records. At least four people have been killed in alligator attacks in 2022. Responders found the gator "guarding" Becker, officials said. Developer Charles Fraser founded both the Sea Pines and Kiawah Island resort communities, which were built on the concept that communities could be developed while the wildlife preserved. Nationally, between 1948 and August 2004, 376 injuries and 15 deaths as a result of alligator encounters were reported in the U.S., which means one reported death every three to four years,according to a 2004 studyin the peer-revieWilderness & Environmental Medicine journal. Florida had an. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. At 2:30 p.m., the department updated its statement to confirm there was no further threat in the area, and that community members may resume normal activities. Gator attack:A Florida man thought a 7-foot alligator was dog on long leash. In 2020, an alligator killed 58-year-old Cynthia Covert in a Kiawah Island, South Carolina attack, marking the third fatal alligator attack in state history since 2016. A deputy had to shoot and kill the alligator to get Covert away from the animal, according to the police report released Monday. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Witness To Fatal SC Alligator Attack Said Victim Was 4 Feet From Pond And Warned Of Danger, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, alligator attacks are rare in South Carolina, 100,000 alligators live in South Carolina, South Carolina Beach Access Battle: Lowcountry Residents Turning On Each Other, SC Coronavirus: Projected Death Toll Skyrockets As Cases Climb, LIVE FEED Murdaugh Murders Trial: Day Twenty-Seven, South Carolina Freedom Caucus Files Lawsuit, Murdaugh Murders Trial: Attorney General Stands And Delivers. A woman killed by an alligator at a South Carolina pond told a friend she wanted to get close to the animal and didn't scream as it attacked her and dragged her into the water, according to a police report. It appears the victim, Nancy Becker, was gardening near a pond in Sun City . Be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed we arent aware of, alligator... '' a statement from police said delayed by at least 15 minutes they can be found in the states... 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