In a tragic occurrence, a woman was killed by an alligator while walking her dog near a lagoon in the Spanish Wells community of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office promptly arrived at the scene after a distress call around 9:30 AM Tuesday. It is disconcertingly the second fatal Hilton Head alligator attack in the county within a year.

The victim, a 69-year-old woman, appeared unresponsive when officials found her at the water's edge.

Adding an eerie element to the tragedy, an alligator was reportedly guarding her, obstructing the rescue efforts.

"Imagine a bouncer standing guard at a club entrance; the alligator was acting in a similar fashion, barring the rescue team from reaching the victim," authorities described.

Hilton Head Alligator Attack :Alligator Removed, Woman's Body Recovered

With the situation unfolding in a bursty fashion, authorities managed to safely remove the alligator, akin to a stubborn obstacle being cleared off a pathway.

Subsequently, they were able to recover the woman's body.

The Beaufort County Coroner's Office will be performing an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.

Details surrounding the attack are still under investigation, with the woman's dog's condition yet to be confirmed.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has reacted to the incident, with their biologists and officers responding.

Increasing Incidences of Fatal Alligator Attacks in South Carolina

This recent Hilton Head alligator attack fuels a growing concern regarding fatal alligator encounters in South Carolina.

Until recent years, the state had never reported such incidents.

Disturbingly, another woman, an 88-year-old resident of Sun City, lost her life in a similar manner near her home in August of the previous year.

And back in 2018, Hilton Head Island saw the fatal alligator attack of a 45-year-old woman, also out walking her dog.

A perplexing increase in fatal alligator attacks is noticed, with a 90-year-old woman being killed after leaving a Charleston nursing home in 2016, and a 58-year-old woman on Kiawah Island in 2020.

In 2019, a man was found dead on Kiawah Island, although the initial cause of his death remained uncertain.