List of fatal alligator attacks in the United States by decade

This is a list of fatal alligator attacks that occurred in the United States in reverse chronological order by decade.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

2000s

Name, age, genderDateLocation, 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 according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiners office. Padron and an accomplice were suspected of breaking into cars in the parking lot of the resort which is located at 500 SW 177th Ave. in southwest Miami-Dade County when police closed in.[1][2][3]
Gwen Williams, 83, female October 5, 2007 The body of this 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, a 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 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 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 three 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 Owen's body 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 some of Owen's body parts.[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.[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]

1990s

Name, age, genderDateLocation, Comments
Adam Binford, 3, male March 21, 1997 Killed by an 11-foot (3.4 m) alligator after straying outside a roped-off area in Lake Ashby, Volusia County, Florida. Wildlife officials shot the alligator, which was still holding the lifeless body of the boy 20 hours later.[11][13]
Grace Eberhart, 70, female October 3, 1993 Killed by one or more alligators at Lake Serenity, Sumter County, Florida. She died of a broken neck caused by an alligator bite to the throat and head.[11][13]
Bradley Weidenhamer, 10, male June 19, 1993 Killed while wading in the Loxahatchee River at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County, Florida.[11][13]

1980s

Name, age, genderDateLocation, Comments
Erin Glover, 4, female June 4, 1988 Killed while walking along the shore of Hidden Lake, Charlotte County, Florida.[11][13]
George Cummings III, 29, male July 13, 1987 Killed while snorkeling in the Wakulla Springs State Park, Wakulla County, Florida by an 11-foot (3.4 m) alligator.[11][13]
Paul Mirabito, 27, male May 4, 1985 Killed while diving and harassing small alligators in a canal near West Palm Beach, Florida.[16]
Robert Crespo, 11, male August 6, 1984 Killed by a 12' 4" (3.8 m) alligator while swimming in a canal in St. Lucie County, Florida.[11][13]

1970s

Name, age, genderDateLocation, Comments
Phillip Rastrelli, 14, male September 10, 1978 Killed while swimming across the Hidden River Canal off Bessie Creek in Martin County, Florida.[11][13]
George Leonard, 52, male September 28, 1977 Killed while swimming in the Peace River Canal, Charlotte County, Florida.[11][13]
Sharon Holmes, 16, female August 16, 1973 Killed while swimming at the Oscar Scherer State Park, Sarasota County, Florida by an 11' 3" (3.4 m) alligator.[11][13]

See also

Species:

Notes

  1. ↑ Glasser, Eric (November 13, 2007). "South Florida burglary suspect killed in gator attack".
  2. ↑ "'Aggressive' Gator Kills Burglary Suspect". Associated Press. November 13, 2007. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  3. ↑ "Alligator's jaws catch suspect in Florida lake". The Seattle Times. November 15, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  4. ↑ Gay, Daryl (October 23, 2007). "Woman Killed By Alligator in Georgia's First Recorded Fatal Attack". Georgia Outdoor News. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  5. ↑ Bynum, Russ (October 9, 2007). "Autopsy shows elderly woman killed by alligator attack". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  6. ↑ "Canadian woman killed in Georgia alligator attack". CanWest News Service. October 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lemonick, Michael D. (May 21, 2006). "Death by Alligator". Time Magazine.
  8. ↑ "Fla. Officials Capture Killer Alligator". May 19, 2006.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Friends Find 23-Year-Old Woman Dead in Alligator's Jaws". May 15, 2006.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Florida Marks 3rd Fatal Alligator Attack In A Week". May 14, 2006.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 11.9 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 "Southeastern Outdoors, Fatal Alligator Attacks". Retrieved 2006-03-31.
  12. ↑ Bakalar, Nicholas (September 12, 2005). "Human-Alligator Encounters Rising in Southeast U.S.". National Geographic News. Retrieved 2006-03-31.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 13.9 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 "Alligator attacks: Fact sheet" (PDF). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original on 2006-05-08. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  14. ↑ "Woman Attacked by 12-Foot Alligator Dies In Surgery". Retrieved 2006-04-12.
  15. ↑ "Boy Killed in Florida Gator Attack". CBS News. June 19, 2003. Retrieved 2006-04-12.
  16. ↑ "Historic Alligator Bites on Humans in Florida" (PDF). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. July 2007. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-05.

References

External links