Elderly woman dies from alligator?

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Autopsy shows elderly woman killed by alligator attack

The Associated Press - SAVANNAH, Ga.

An alligator attack killed an elderly woman whose mauled body was found in a pond, according to an autopsy performed Tuesday.

A biologist for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said it was the first time an alligator killed a person in Georgia since 1980.

The autopsy found that 83-year-old Gwen Williams died from blood loss from "wounds consistent with those of an alligator attack," said Sgt. Mike Wilson, a spokesman for Savannah-Chatham County police.

A couple riding in a golf cart Saturday spotted Williams' body, which was missing its left arm, right hand and right foot. Police determined she had been dead since Friday evening.

Williams was found in a pond about 500 feet from the home she was house-sitting for relatives on Skidaway Island in east Savannah. Wilson said she was from Canada, but he did not know which city.

Investigators estimated the alligator that attacked Williams was 7-feet long, judging by the size of its bite. The DNR has sent a trapper to Skidaway Island to hunt for it.

Before Williams' death, only eight known alligator attacks had occurred in Georgia since 1980. None of those were fatal, said Jim Simmons, a senior wildlife biologist for the Georgia DNR.

Six of the attacks happened when someone either stepped on an alligator or bumped into one submerged in water, Simmons said.

Though attacks are rare, Simmons stressed that people who spot alligators should keep their distance and never try to feed the animals.

"The potential's always there _ it's a large carnivore with a very small brain," Simmons said.