HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC (WTOC) - A woman was attacked and killed by an alligator Monday morning in the Sea Pines area on Hilton Head Island, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office, Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue and Sea Pines Security responded to a lagoon off Wood Duck Road. Fire personnel located the body inside the lagoon.
Witness accounts say the woman was walking her dog near the lagoon when she was attacked and pulled underwater by the alligator.
The Sheriff’s Office Environmental Crimes Unit, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Sea Pines Security are searching for the alligator, which is reported to be approximately 8 feet in length.
Beaufort County Coroner Edward Allen scheduled an autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina to determine the cause of the woman's death.
The sheriff’s office says the dog was not harmed.
