The woman fell into a pond along the golf course around 8:15 p.m. at the Boca Royale Golf and Country Club in Englewood, Florida, according to a statement from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. She “fought to stay afloat” and two alligators “finally caught her while she was in the water,” the statement said.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The sheriff’s office and the Fish Conservation and Wildlife Commission are conducting an investigation and the cause of the woman’s death has not yet been determined, according to the statement.
A contracted caigar was sent to the scene and removed two alligators from the area, the commission told CNN in a statement. One of the alligators measured 8 feet 10 inches while the other was 7 feet 7 inches long. However, “it is unknown at this time whether alligators were involved in the incident,” according to the Fish Conservation and Wildlife Commission.
Serious injuries from alligator attacks are rare even in Florida, which is home to more than a million alligators, according to the commission. In 2021, there were only nine alligator bites recorded by the agency, and none were fatal. There have been at least two alligator-related deaths so far this year in the United States. In late May, a man is believed to have been killed by alligators after searching for frisbees on a Florida lake. And in June, a person was killed by an alligator in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.