NEAR CLEARWATER, Fla. (WSVN) — Authorities are investigating after they made a deadly discovery in the mouth of a huge alligator on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Aerial video captured the large reptile surrounded by authorities in Pinellas County near Clearwater after they responded to the scene, at around 1:50 p.m., Friday.
First responders arrived and pulled a woman’s body out of the water.
The body was later covered with a yellow tarp on the side of the road.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials assisted authorities in killing the gator.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputies identified the victim as 41-year-old Sabrina Peckham.
What remains unclear as of Friday night is whether the gator is responsible for the woman’s death, or whether there was some sort of incident that led to the body being in the water, and then the animal happened to stumble upon it.
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