Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Gator thought to have killed woman is caught

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 14, 2006

SUNRISE - Wildlife officers captured an alligator Saturday they think was responsible for fatally attacking a woman while she was out jogging Tuesday evening.

The 91/2-foot-long alligator was trapped under a bridge where Yovy Suarez Jimenez, 28, was last seen, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Dani Moschella.

Authorities found two human arms inside the gator's belly, Moschella said.

"We have to do further tests to confirm that this indeed was the alligator that killed the woman, but we believe it was likely that it was," Moschella said.

Authorities still aren't sure how the gator attacked Suarez. Commission Officer Jorge Pino said witnesses saw a woman matching Suarez's description dangling her feet over the water's edge Tuesday, but no one saw an attack. Construction workers discovered her body in the canal Wednesday.

A medical examiner said the alligator attacked Suarez while she was on land and then dragged her body into the canal.

Suarez's death is the 18th confirmed fatal alligator attack in Florida since 1948, Moschella said. Nine other deaths are unconfirmed, mainly because it was not clear whether the person was already dead when the alligator attacked.

[Last modified May 14, 2006, 00:49:03]