LARGO, FL – In a shocking incident, a 41-year-old woman, Sabrina Peckham, was found dead in the clutches of a 13-foot alligator in Largo, Florida. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office disclosed that the gruesome discovery was made just before 2 p.m. on Friday in a non-incorporated part of Largo, within the Tampa Bay area.
JaMarcus Bullard, a local resident, stumbled upon the horrifying scene and promptly dialed 911. He recounted the moment he witnessed the alligator surfacing from the water. Peckham’s body was seen firmly locked in the alligator’s jaws before it submerged and swam to the other side of the canal.
Upon receiving the distress call, local deputies arrived at the scene along with officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The alligator was humanely euthanized, and a dive team was dispatched to retrieve Peckham’s remains from the canal.
The circumstances that surround the mysterious discovery of Peckham’s body are still under investigation. The Pinellas County medical examiner is in the process of determining the cause and manner of her death prior to being found in the gator’s mouth.
This incident comes on the heels of a similar tragedy in March in nearby St. Petersburg, where a 2-year-old boy was found dead in an alligator’s mouth. The boy’s mother had been found murdered in their home two days earlier, leading to the father being charged with two counts of murder.