PUNTA GORDA, Fla.—An elderly Florida woman was killed by two alligators on the evening of July 15 after falling into a pond on a golf course, a state medical examiner reported.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said a medical examiner’s report “officially ruled” that the alligator attack was the cause of the 80-year-old woman’s death.
Wiegand is the second person this year to die in an alligator attack in Florida.
On May 31, 47-year-old Sean McGuinness was killed after going into a lake at Largo at night. His body was discovered the next morning with an arm torn off.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) was now in charge of the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
The victim, Rose Marie Wiegand of Englewood, reportedly fell into the pond at the Boca Royale Golf and Country Club, according to the sheriff’s statement.
She “struggled to stay afloat” and two alligators “ultimately grabbed her while in the water.”
Witnesses told the sheriff’s department that Wiegand was unable to get out of the water and her “panicked splashing” attracted the alligators and “they grabbed her before she could escape.”
FWC was contacted regarding the incident and responded, the commission’s southwest region public information director Melody Kilborn told The Epoch Times in an email.
“A contracted nuisance alligator trapper was dispatched to the location and has removed two alligators from the area,” she said.
Kilborn said one of the alligators measured eight feet, 10 inches; and the other was seven feet, seven inches.
“Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the deceased during this difficult time,” she added.
Florida began keeping records of alligator bites and fatalities in 1948 and reports through 2021 only 26 recorded fatalities.
