NATIONAL POST (Toronto, Ontario) 12 May 06 Alligator grabs, kills jogger near canal: Rare attack (Jane Sutton)
Miami (Reuters, with files from Agence France-Presse): An alligator grabbed and killed a Florida woman who disappeared while jogging near a canal, a medical examiner determined yesterday.
Construction workers found the woman's dismembered body on Wednesday floating in a canal in Sunrise, a northwest suburb of Fort Lauderdale. A day earlier, witnesses had said they saw an alligator drag the woman into the water.
An autopsy showed she died of bleeding and shock from alligator bites.
"The alligator attacked her and basically amputated her arms, bit her on the leg and back and pulled her into the water," said Dr. Joshua Perper, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy. "She died extremely fast. By the time she was pulled into the water, she was already dead."
Dr. Perper said the woman, 28-year-old Yovy Suarez Jimenez, had been very close to the canal's edge when the alligator bit her, because her body showed no signs of having been dragged.
Relatives said Ms. Suarez Jimenez had gone jogging on Tuesday evening along a bicycle path near the canal. Wildlife officers said no one saw the attack.
Wildlife officers and commercial trappers were still trying to find the alligator, which was estimated to be 2.4 to 3 metres long based on the woman's injuries. The alligator will be killed if captured, they said.
Alligator attacks are relatively rare. Ms. Suarez Jimenez's death was the 18th fatal attack in Florida since the state began keeping records in the 1940s, said Dani Moschella, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Experts believe a recent lack of rain is bringing the gators out of the wild and into ponds and canals in residential areas.
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ON Press: Alligator grabs, kills jogger
Replies (1)
LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL (Québec) 12 May 06 Tuée Par Un Alligator
Le corps de Yoyi Suarez Jimenez, 28 ans, apparemment tuée par un alligator alors qu'elle faisait son jogging de nuit, a été retrouvé mercredi flottant dans un canal dans la petite ville de Sunrise en Floride, 24 heures après que des témoins aient rapporté avoir vu un alligator entraîner une femme sous l'eau.
Les autorités ont lancé des recherches pour retrouver l'animal, qui mesurerait 3 mètres de long. Plus d'un million d'alligators pullulent en Floride mais seulement 25 personnes ont été attaquées depuis 1948.
