Alligator kills woman walking her dogs — and recovery effort is interrupted by gator 'guarding' the body

A South Carolina woman died Tuesday after being attacked by an alligator.

Early on Independence Day morning, 69-year-old Holly Jenkins left her home in the Hilton Head community of Spanish Wells to take her dog on a walk. But family members became concerned when the dog returned home without her.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m., a family member spotted Jenkins, unresponsive, near the edge of a lagoon and phoned emergency responders. Police finally managed to recover Jenkins' lifeless body only after dealing with an aggressive gator, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office explained in a news release.

"Rescue efforts were made and an alligator appeared and was guarding the woman, interrupting emergency efforts," the release said. "The gator was safely removed from the area and the woman’s body was recovered."

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources officials eventually removed the alligator — a 9-foot, 9-inch male — and euthanized it.

An autopsy will be performed on Wednesday, WTOP-TV reported.

Authorities confirm one person killed in Beaufort County alligator attackwww.youtube.com

The fatal attack is the second to occur in the area in less than a year.

Last August, 88-year-old Nancy Becker was gardening near a pond in her gated Hilton Head community when she slipped into the water. An alligator then attacked and killed her. That gator was also nearly 10 feet long. It was later identified and euthanized.

That gator, like the one that killed Jenkins, also guarded its victim.

"The alligator was basically holding her hostage, I guess — I don’t know what the appropriate term would be. It was guarding her and did not want people close by," explained Angela Viens, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, at the time.

The proximity of the fatal attacks does not mean they are frequent.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has reported only six fatal encounters with alligators since 2000, the New York Times reported. Overall, there have only been 24 encounters with injuries — or an average of one per year — in that same time span.

Jay Butfiloski, the alligator program coordinator with the SCDNR, told the Times last year that alligator attacks are increasing because building developments are encroaching on the bodies of water where alligators live. He also explained that walking near bodies of water with pets increases one's chances of being attacked.

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