'Lurking at the bottom of the lake': 85-year-old Florida woman killed by alligator while walking her dog
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating after an 85-year-old woman was killed by an alligator while walking her dog in Fort Pierce.
It happened around 12 p.m. Monday in the Spanish Lakes Fairways community.
Neighbors say the 10-foot alligator lunged out of the water and grabbed her.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office helicopter helped locate the alligator. A short time later, trappers found it lurking at the bottom of the lake and pulled it out.
"He fought pretty good. Definitely fought pretty good," Robert Lilly, Nuisance Alligator Trapper, said. "Snagged him on the bottom. He never surfaced. He stayed down the whole time. Got a second hook in him and then a hard line in him so we could get him up."
Lilly said the reptile weighed between 600 and 700 pounds.
Trappers said any nuisance gator over 4 feet long can be legally removed from a residential lake similar to the one in this community.
According to FWC, serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in the state of Florida.
"The FWC places the highest priority on public safety and administers a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) to address complaints concerning specific alligators believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property," the organization said in a statement.
The victim's identity has not been released at this time.
