Holly Jenkins, Hilton Head, South Carolina 69 year old woman mauled to death by alligator in Spanish Wells attack while walking her dog.
Who knew elderly ladies were so tasty … A 69 year old woman was killed by an alligator while walking her dog in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Tuesday morning — the second fatal gator attack in the county in less than a year, authorities said.
The 69-year-old was mauled by the beast near a lagoon bordering a golf course in the Spanish Wells community where she lived around 9:30 a.m., the sheriff’s office said.
Holly Jenkins, 69, a long time resident of Spanish Wells was found unresponsive at the edge of the lagoon.
Predator proceeds to guard victim’s body
It wasn’t until when the woman’s dog returned home without its owner that other family members began to ‘frantically’ look for the missing woman before coming upon the macabre discovery.
First responders weren’t immediately able to reach the victim’s body after an alligator crawled out of the water and proceeded to ‘guard the woman,’ police said according to NBC News.
The 10-foot, male gator was captured and removed from the area and the woman’s body was eventually recovered. The predator was euthanized later that day.
The Beaufort County coroner stated an autopsy being scheduled for Wednesday, WOTC reported.
Investigators determined Jenkins was walking her dog when she was attacked.
It’s unclear exactly where she was pulled into the water, the sheriff’s office said.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources tweeted Tuesday that its ‘biologists and officers are responding’ to the incident.
Rare attacks
Tuesday’s incident was the second fatal alligator attack in Beaufort County in less than a year, according to the sheriff’s office.
In August 2022, an 88-year-old woman was killed by an alligator after she slipped into a pond while gardening in a senior community in nearby Bluffton.
In that attack, the gator also appeared to be ‘guarding’ the woman’s body, which was finally recovered by responders two hours after they arrived.
In June, 2022, a 75 year old local Myrtle Beach man was killed in an alligator attack in Horry County, South Carolina. The man who was standing along a retention pond while mowing the lawn drowned following a confrontation with the predator.
In May 2020, a 58-year-old self described ‘animal lover’ was attacked and killed by an alligator in a gated community.
She was trying to touch the animal when it grabbed her and pulled her into a pond.
A 90-year-old woman walked out of a Charleston nursing home in 2016 and was killed, while a 45-year-old woman walking her dog was fatally attacked on Hilton Head Island in August 2018.
