A 31-year-old woman hiking near Orlando, Florida, died after a 12- to 13-foot alligator attacked her, ripping off her arm in front of her boyfriend and best friend. The attack occurred on Sunday, June 28, at the Econlockhatchee River, where the group stopped to cool off in shallow, three-foot-deep waters.
The alligator clamped its jaws around both of the woman's arms. Her boyfriend desperately tried to free her while calling emergency services, but the reptile tore off one arm and severely mauled the other. Wildlife official Grant Eller, a lieutenant in Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, confirmed the group was kneeling in the water around 1:30 p.m. when the attack happened.
911 call captures terror
In the 911 call obtained by NBC News, the boyfriend can be heard screaming and crying, while another woman described the injuries. She told the dispatcher, 'Ok, both her arms, both her arms, both her arms are off, like, basically.' When asked if the arms were still attached, she explained, 'One of them is, like, very hanging on [by a] thread, and the other was off.' The dispatcher asked where the other arm went, and the woman replied, 'Gone.'
The group carried the victim and tried to flag down rescuers. Eller stated the woman, an Orlando resident, died before reaching a hospital. Authorities withheld her name pending notification of her family, who live out of state.
Two alligators harvested
Seminole County sheriff's deputies, with a professional trapper, 'harvested' two alligators near the scene: one 13 feet and another 12 feet long. DNA samples were sent for lab analysis to identify the attacker. The attack is one of several recent incidents in central Florida, as alligators become more aggressive after mating season.
