Major update after woman killed by TWO alligators as gruesome details emerge in victim’s battle to survive | The Sun
THE elderly woman killed in an alligator infested pond near her home at a country club in Florida has been identified as Rose Marie Wiegand, 80.
The octogenarian was seen losing her footing as she pulled weeds out of her sloped lawn at the Boca Royale Golf and Country Club.
She attracted the reptiles as she fearfully splashed to stay afloat after falling into the basin.
The elderly woman struggled to stay above water, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said.
Witnesses confirmed two alligators were observed swimming towards Rose and grabbing her while she was in the water, before she could swim to safety.
Rose was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Stunned neighbours paid tribute to the "energetic" and "sweet" woman.
Kurt Kauffman lived a few doors down from Rose. He told CBS Miami Rose was "very kind".
"She always came up, she introduced herself when we moved in."
Hugh Moore, who was Rose's neighbour for 15 years told YouSun: “She loved keeping up with the plants in her yard,” Moore said.
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“She’s lived here for over 20 years. Even after her husband (Edward) died in 2020, she kept up with her yard.
"She was sad for a while, but her two daughters moved closer and then she was happy again they were with her. She was kind and friendly.”
The Englewood Fire District established the incident occurred near Cayman Isle Boulevard and Golf View Drive at approximately 7:47 p.m on July 15.
A trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) removed the alligators from the pond.
One was 8ft10in long, and the other was 7ft7in, FWC said.
Rose's neighbour Moore explained he had watched one of the predators grow over the years.
“I remember the gator was about 4ft long,” he said.
“It would bask along the pond near the golf course across the pond from my house. The gators are everywhere. We know not to feed them or let little dogs out in the backyard.”
He added: “The alligators didn’t come onto the land. They generally don’t bother with anyone. The water is where they live and we respect them.
"This was a terrible accident…Rose Marie was a lovely, lovely woman.”
An investigation is ongoing.
Alligators are typically found in Florida, Louisiana, and other southern states and have already taken the lives of multiple people in 2022.
On May 31, 2022, a 47-year-old man, later identified as Sean Thomas McGuinness, was found dead in John S. Taylor Park in Largo, Florida, with one arm torn off.
Paul Cozzie, the director of Parks and Conservation Resources in Pinellas County, told The New York Times that “he died as a result of an alligator attack,” which marked Florida's first fatal alligator attack since 2018.
A few weeks later, on June 26, Fox News reported that a South Carolina man was killed after an 11-foot alligator attacked him and pulled him into a retention pond.
These two deaths mark the first ones in 2022, but there have been several attacks in between.
While an exact number is unclear, there have been at least five attacks where people have survived.
This month, a six-year old was bitten by an alligator during a family trip in Louisiana.
On June 22, Samuel Ray told WRAL that he was attacked by an alligator while playing catch near a pond in Florida.
"It was about a foot away from the water," Ray said.
"And then as soon as I put my hand on the ball, I bent over and picked it up. That's when I saw the gator's eye. It lunged out, and it was so fast, it was like a lightning strike."
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Just a few days before Ray's attack, a man sustained non-life-threatening injuries while saving his dog from an alligator attack, according to WCSC.
As of November 2021, Florida has seen an average of eight unprovoked bites per year, but the risk of being seriously injured during an unprovoked incident is roughly one in 3.1 million, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission notes.
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