Sheriff’s deputies in Florida have announced the identity of the woman whose body was found in a Florida lake after reports of an alligator with a person in its mouth.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced that Sabrina Peckham’s manner and cause of death are still pending.
The more than 13-and-a-half-foot gator was seen at one point with a body in its mouth in a lake in Largo, near Tampa Bay, according to eyewitnesses, Bay News 9 reported.
“I could tell there was a body in his mouth, so I started recording,” JaMarcus Bullard said, according to the television station. “I came down to the fire department and reported it to them.” The fire department alerted 911.
The alligator was “humanely killed” by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Bay News 9 reported.
Peckham’s remains were found in the water and were recovered by the sheriff’s department dive team, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Officials are also trying to find out how the woman’s body ended up in the water, Bay News 9 reported.
WFLA reported that Peckham was arrested for trespassing onto county wetlands earlier this year blocks away from where her remains were found on Friday.
A man died in May 2022 about a mile away from where Peckham was found. He had drowned after being attacked by an alligator, officials said, according to the Times.
