A 31-year-old woman has died after a horrific alligator attack in Central Florida, while she was out hiking with her boyfriend and her best friend.
The attack happened Sunday, June 29, in the Econlockhatchee River near the Barr Street Trailhead in Little Big Econ State Forest, just north-east of Orlando. According to investigators, the group had stopped to cool off in the water.
At the time of the attack, they were believed to be kneeling in water about three feet deep. A 911 call obtained by NBC News captured people in the background screaming and crying.
“OK, both her arms, both her arms, both her arms are off, like, basically,” the a woman could be heard saying during the phone call.
Grant Eller, a lieutenant with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the woman’s boyfriend was “trying to get her arms away from the alligator’s mouth” while emergency responders were being contacted.
According to the call, the dispatcher asked whether the victim “still had her arms attached to her,” and the caller replied that one was “hanging by a thread”.
She also told the dispatcher the woman’s other arm was “gone”.
Emergency crews arrived shortly afterward, with more screams audible in the background of the recordings. Authorities said the woman died before she could be taken to hospital.
Investigators have not publicly identified her. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the attack was being investigated, and that two alligators were found in the area. Officials have said DNA testing was being used to determine which animal was involved.
FWC officials said the incident came at the end of mating season, when alligators can be more territorial. They also noted that this was one of several recent alligator incidents in the state.
Florida is home to about 1.3 million alligators, according to the FWC, which says the reptiles live in all 67 counties. The agency also says serious injuries from alligators are rare, but urges people to keep their distance, never feed them, and swim only in designated areas during daylight hours.
FWC’s latest published bite summary, updated in December 2022, recorded 455 alligator bites on people in Florida from 1948 through 2022, including 28 fatal incidents. The agency says if someone is concerned about an alligator, they should call the statewide nuisance alligator hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR, and a contracted trapper may be dispatched.
Even so, attacks causing severe injury remain rare both in Florida and across the United States.