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.
