At approximately 9:28 this morning, July 4, 2023, Sheriff’s Office deputies, Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue, Beaufort County Coroner’s Office and Spanish Wells security personnel responded to Brams Point Road in the Spanish Wells community for a report of a possible alligator attack near a lagoon bordering the golf course.
A 69-year-old resident of the community was found at the edge of the lagoon and appeared to be unresponsive. Rescue efforts were made and an alligator appeared and was guarding the woman, interrupting emergency efforts. The gator was safely removed from the area and the woman’s body was recovered.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office will facilitate an autopsy on the woman.
Deputies learned that the woman was walking her dog earlier this morning when the attack occurred. It is not clear at this point where she was taken into the water.
This is the second fatal alligator attack in Beaufort County in less than a year. On August 15, 2022, an 88-year-old Sun City woman was attacked by an alligator at a lagoon near her home.
