Sabrina Peckham Video: Woman killed in Florida alligator attack has been identified


Florida authorities have identified a woman whose body was pulled from a waterway after an alligator attack.

Sabrina Peckham, 41, was attacked by a 13-foot alligator Friday, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said. Peckham was pulled from a canal in Largo after witnesses reported that the gator had a body in its mouth.

Authorities had earlier said the animal was “humanely killed” and pulled from the canal.

The coroner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine Peckham’s official manner and cause of death, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Sunday. According to the agency, it is suspected that Peckham was murdered by Gator.

Peckham was previously arrested for trespassing in a wetland area just off the waterway at 134th Avenue North and 121st Street North, where her body was found, WESH reports. He was fined $500 for the incident that happened two months ago.

Peckham’s daughter, Breonna Doris, said in an emotional Facebook post that her mother was part of the homeless population and lived near the reservoir.

“It is believed she may have been walking to or from her camping site near the creek in the dark and was attacked by the crocodile from the water,” Ms Dorris wrote in her post. “No matter how you say it, no one deserves to die like this.”

The family has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral costs. As of Sunday evening, more than $4,000 had been raised.

Gruesome footage of Peckham’s lifeless body was recorded by witnesses before officers arrived at the scene. Jamarcus Bullard, who was the first to alert authorities, said he was on his way to a job interview when he looked toward the lake and saw the horrifying sight.

“I never thought I’d see something like this here, I thought it only happened in swamps, but that was a big gator,” Mr Bullard told WFLA.

Mr Bullard told the network that when he saw the crocodile holding the victim’s lower torso he threw a rock at it. The gator dragged the body underwater, Mr Bullard said.

After this he ran towards the local fire station.

Sheriff’s deputies and a crew from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission killed the 13-foot, 8.5-inch male alligator. After this it was taken out of water.

Jennifer Dean, who lives in the area where the body was recovered, also told Spectrum News that she had seen alligators in the waterway before – but none as large as this one.

“A lot of my neighbors were out here and they were the ones who told me about the gator,” Ms Dean told the network. “While we were standing here we heard a shot, I think they killed the gator.”

The waterway from which the body was recovered is close to Taylor Lake, where a 47-year-old man was killed by a crocodile last year. When the man’s body was pulled out of the water, three of his body parts were missing.


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