NEAR FORT PIERCE, Fla. (WSVN) — Newly released surveillance video and a frantic 911 call for help captured the moments leading up to the deadly encounter between an alligator and an elderly woman who was walking her dog near Fort Pierce.
The security footage, obtained exclusively by Inside Edition, showed the 10-foot reptile as it floated toward the shore of a bank, surfaced from the water and lunged at 85-year-old Gloria Serge’s dog as she was walking her pet.
Authorities said Serge, 85, died Monday after the giant gator attacked her at Spanish Lakes Fairways, a retirement community in St. Lucie County.
Serge was able to pull her dog out of the way, but the alligator grabbed her.
Trappers ultimately found and caught the alligator.
Neighbor Carol Thomas called 911 as she witnessed the tragic event unfold.
“It’s a woman in the lake. The alligator’s got her; the alligator has the woman!” Thomas told the 911 dispatcher.
The dispatcher mistook what she said and asked if it was a dog that attacked the elderly woman.
“An alligator has a woman!” said Thomas.
On the call, the woman continued to describe what she saw and noticed Serge was underwater for far too long.
“Hurry!” said Thomas.
“How big is it?” said the dispatcher.
“It’s a huge gator. It’s huge. I don’t have anything to give to her,” said Thomas.
Authorities said Serge died after the large reptile pulled her into a pond.
Thomas tried to help the victim as she was attacked, to no avail.
“Did [the alligator] pull her under?” said the dispatcher.
“Yes!” said Thomas.
“All right. You don’t see any of her body, nothing sticking out?” said the dispatcher.
“Nothing, she’s gone,” said Thomas.
The woman who called 911 said Serge was with her dog Trooper when the alligator grabbed her pet.
Serge tried to fight off the gator but was pulled into the pond.
“She was walking her little dog, and the gator grabbed the dog, pulled down and took her,” said Thomas. “‘I said, ‘Run to the bank.’ She said, ‘I can’t, the alligator’s got me.'”
“She stated that the alligator got a hold of her? She could not get out of the water?” said the dispatcher.
“Yeah,” said Thomas.
Trooper survived.
“Come on, honey,” said Thomas as she appeared to be calling out to the pet. “I’ve got to get her dog, so he doesn’t get hurt. He’s all wet. I’m going to put him in – OK, honey, calm down. He’s so frightened.”
Thomas later spotted Serge’s body in the water before officers arrived.
“Oh, I see her. She’s floating. I think she’s gone. Oh, my God,” said Thomas.
Trappers found and caught the alligator, which weighed between 600 and 700 pounds.
The disturbing attack has left a family and a grieving community devastated.
Neighbors said they’ve seen other alligators in the pond in the past. As of Wednesday, there is no word from investigators as to whether those gators will be removed.
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