Florida woman killed by 2 alligators after she fell in pond, officials say

July 18 (UPI) -- For the second time in less than two months, officials in Florida have reported a deadly alligator attack -- this time killing an elderly woman on the Gulf Coast.

Authorities said the 80-year-old woman fell into a pond near her home in Englewood last Friday and was attacked by two alligators. She was later identified as Rose Marie Wiegand.

Englewood is located about 40 miles northwest of Fort Myers and about 65 miles southeast of Tampa.

Officials said the woman struggled to stay afloat and the gators "grabbed her" while she was in the pond. She died at the scene.

"I mean it's pretty horrible and it's shocking to think that that could actually happen," Englewood resident John Whitworth told WBBH. "We see alligators from time to time but never thought that anything like that could happen."

Although experts say that alligators rarely attack humans, Wiegand's marked the third fatal gator attack in the United States so far in 2022. File Photo by Michael Bush/UPI

"This is a tragic situation, and we are deeply saddened that it happened," Doug Foote, general manager of the Boca Royale Golf & Country Club, told People magazine.

"There is an ongoing investigation into details of what happened."

Wildlife officials eventually found two gators and removed them from the area. One measured almost 9 feet long and the other was about 7 1/2 feet long. However, it wasn't known for sure whether they were the reptiles that attacked Wiegand.

Although experts say that alligator attacks on humans are rare, Wiegand's death is the second fatal attack in Florida in less than two months. A man was killed by an alligator in Largo, Fla., on May 31.