KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) has released the report detailing witness accounts of Friday’s fatal alligator encounter on Kiawah Island.
According to a witness, the victim, identified as Cynthia Covert (57), was at the witness’s house and “appeared not her normal self.” The witness said that Covert saw the alligator in the pond, and wanted to get a closer look; the witness advised Covert not to get any closer, but Covert continued towards the alligator.
The witness said that when Covert was about four feet away from the edge of the water, “the big alligator came up and attacked her friend.” The witness’s husband tried to fend off the alligator with a shovel, but was unsuccessful.
Covert “never screamed,” according to the witness.
When CCSO and St. Johns Fire Department arrived, they “searched the water’s surface for any indications of Covert…[and] observed Covert resurface a short distance away from the attack site.”
Authorities removed Covert’s body from the pond, and “terminated” the alligator, “which was near Covert’s body.” They removed the deceased alligator from the pond as well.
There were at least two other alligators in the pond at the time, which CCSO determined “posed no threat to first responders.”
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday at MUSC.