A Florida woman was dragged from her canoe by an alligator while paddling on a popular fishing lake, authorities said. The woman had been near the mouth of Tiger Creek into Lake Kissimmee when she was attacked just after 4pm on Tuesday, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
They added that the woman was dragged under the water and was not seen again until her body was recovered. The woman is believed to have been with her husband when the attack happened, who it is believed tried to fight off the creature. An officer was heard saying on his radio: “Gator grabbed her out of the canoe, he tried to fight the gator off.
“We’re at the last place he saw her. He left the paddle here where he last saw her at.”
A contracted nuisance alligator trapper has been dispatched to the area, with authorities keen to stress that attacks of this nature are rare.
Investigators did not release any further details about the incident or the alligator.
The incident happened at Lake Kissimmee State Park near the mouth of Tiger Creek into Lake Kissimmee.
The lake is a popular recreation area known for its rich biodiversity that includes large populations of alligators.
Visitors often kayak or canoe through waterways such as the Zipper Canal and Lake Rosalie, launching from designated areas, such as the cow camp bridge and the marina.
The attack comes two months after a person was bitten by an alligator while kayaking, while another had their lifejacket ripped off on a canal between Tiger Lake and Kissimmee Lake.
The attack sparked a dramatic rescue operation, with the group stranded on a kayak and unable to reach safety due to the presence of the alligator.
One of the group told a 911 operator: “If there was a ramp, we’d be golden, but we are in the marshy area, and she is half in the boat, and they got her mostly out of the water.”
Emergency services were forced to dispatch a helicopter and use an airboat to reach the woman in an operation that is believed to have taken around an hour.