A dead woman found clamped in the jaws of a massive alligator in Florida, police say. A witness said he saw the animal in a canal in Largo on Friday, clutching the lower part of the victim’s torso. The Pinellas County sheriff’s office later confirmed that the remains were those of 41-year-old Sabrina Peckham.
Woman’s body found in alligator
Professionals humanely euthanized the gator and removed it from the canal before a police dive team recovered Ms Peckham’s body. They found the gator in an area popular with the locals for fishing and picnicking. Authorities say it’s not unusual to see alligators in the vicinity.
Sabrina Peckham trespassed in the area earlier this year and received a $500 fine. Her daughter, Breauna Dorris, started a GoFundMe to raise funds for her funeral costs. Peckham’s daughter described her as a very loving and giving mother who would visit her grandchildren every day.
Dorris says she is not surprised at the news of her mother’s death but does not believe it was an accident. The gator was spotted in the canal by a witness, who reported it to the sheriff’s office. A team of gator wranglers later arrived at the scene.
They used a rope around the creature’s neck and attached it to a pulley on the back of a truck, NBC Tampa reports. But the gator put up a fight and started pulling the truck into the water, causing the crew to have to stop the operation. As US officials began to remove the gator from the water, they noticed that it had the victim’s remains in its mouth.
The animal was euthanized, and officers identified the victim as 41-year-old Sabrina ‘Sabrina’ Peckham of Largo. Alligators are common in the southeast United States, and fatal alligator attacks are relatively rare. But there has been a recent uptick in such incidents, particularly in Florida, where many people live in waterfront homes.
