SC Woman Walking Dog Killed in Alligator Attack

A woman who was walking her dog near a golf course in South Carolina Tuesday morning was killed in what authorities believe is the county's second fatal alligator attack in less than a year. The 69-year-old woman was found unresponsive near a lagoon bordering a golf course on Hilton Head Island, the Island Packet reports. "Rescue efforts were made and an alligator appeared and was guarding the woman, interrupting emergency efforts," the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said in a press release.

"A 9-foot, 9-inch male alligator was euthanized and removed from the lagoon, the state's Department of Natural Resources said in a statement. The sheriff's office says the woman's body was recovered and her dog was later found safe. The last fatal alligator attack in the county was in August last year, when an 88-year-old woman was killed by an alligator after she fell into a pond at the Sun City Hilton Head retirement community, CNN reports. Her family sued the retirement community, saying ponds and other features were built "without adequate safeguards." (More alligator stories.)