[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by Rattlerjake

It is a rarity to hear of Alligator attacks in the US, and even rarer to hear of a fatality. More people are attacked by sharks here then alligators.

We average about one(1) DOA a year in Florida alone..

Name, age, gender Date Location, Comments

• Justo Padron, 36, male November 13, 2007 A man fleeing police by jumping into a retention pond adjacent to the Miccosukee Resort and Convention Center was killed by a 9-foot 3-inch (2.8 m) alligator on this date according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiners office. Padron and an accomplice were suspected of burglarizing cars in the parking lot of the resort which is located at 500 SW 177th St. in southwest Miami-Dade County when police closed in. Witnesses said they could hear Padron's agonized screaming before he disappeared underwater.[1][2][3]
• Gwen Williams, 83, female October 5, 2007 The body of this elderly Canadian woman, who had been house sitting for her daughter, was spotted floating in a lagoon 500 feet (200 m) behind her daughter's house by a couple riding by in a golf cart at The Landings on Skidaway Island, an upscale development east of Savannah, Georgia . Autopsy results and an examination of the stomach contents during a necropsy of the animal suspected of killing her conclusively established that she had been attacked and killed by an 8 foot (2.5 m) alligator.[4][5][6]
• Annemarie Campbell, 23, female May 14, 2006 Her body was pulled out of an alligator's mouth on this date by friends and relatives in a springhead at Juniper Wayside Park in the Ocala National Forest near Lake George in Marion County, Florida. She had been attacked while snorkeling. Autopsy results confirmed that Campbell died from drowning and multiple blunt-force injuries including lacerations on her head, neck and upper torso, and multiple rib fractures. Officials later captured and killed an 11-foot 4-inch (3.5 m), 407 pound alligator that they were able to positively identify as the one that attacked Campbell due to scratches around its eyes that she inflicted while attempting to defend herself.[7][8][9][10]
• Judy W. Cooper, 43, female May 14, 2006 Her body was found on this date in a canal near Oldsmar in Pinellas County, Florida, 20 miles (30 km) north of St. Petersburg. She had been in the water for about 3 days. Preliminary autopsy results indicated a fatal alligator attack. Her arm and hand were later recovered from an 8.5-foot (2.6 m) alligator.[7][9][10]
• Yovy Suarez Jiménez, 28, female May 10, 2006 Construction workers found her dismembered body on this date floating in a canal between Markham County Park and State Road 84 in Sunrise, Florida. Authorities later captured the 9' 6" (3 m) alligator that killed her during her nightly jog on May 9 when she stopped to dangle her feet in the water of the canal. Officials were able to verify this because both her arms were found in the digestive tract of the animal during the necropsy. The Broward County medical examiner concluded that she was attacked on land and dragged into the canal.[7][9][10][11]
• Kevin Albert Murray, 41, male July 15, 2005 Killed while swimming in the Apollo waterway in Port Charlotte, Florida by a 12' 2" (3.7 m) alligator.[11][12][13]
• Don Owen, 56, male March 15, 2005 Fishermen discovered the body of Owen on this date about 12 miles (19 km) from his Lakeland, Florida home. He had been missing since March 9. Trappers later caught an 8' 9" (2.7 m) alligator and recovered body parts from Owen.[11]
• Michelle Reeves, 20, female September 26, 2004 Killed by a 7' 11" (2.4 m) alligator while swimming in a retention pond at Lee Memorial Health Park in Lee County, Florida.[11][13]
• Janie Melsek, 54, female June 21, 2004 Attacked by a 12' 3" (3.7 m) alligator while working on landscaping along Poinciana Circle Sanibel, Florida. She later died in surgery from an infection acquired from being in the water with open wounds.[11][13][14]
• Brian Griffin, 12, male June 18, 2003 Killed by a 10' 4" (3.1 m) alligator while swimming in the Dead River near a boat ramp; the river connects Lakes Harris and Eustis in Lake County, Florida.[11][13][15]
• Robert Steele, 81, male September 11, 2001 Attacked by an alligator while walking his dog on a trail between two wetland areas near the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel, Florida. Steele bled to death after his leg was bitten off below the knee.[11][13]
• Alexandria Murphy, 2, female June 23, 2001 She wandered away from her fenced back yard and was killed 700 feet from her home on Lake Cannon in Polk County, Florida. A deputy sheriff found her body.[11][13]
• Samuel Wetmore, 70, male May 4, 2001 Killed in a pond near his residence in Venice, Sarasota County, Florida by an 8' 4" (2.5 m) alligator. Wetmore suffered from dementia and had wandered from his home.[11][13]