Houston police in the United States of America found the body of a woman believed to be in her 60s inside an alligator’s jaws near Horsepen Bayou in Clear Lake on Tuesday morning. The woman had been reported missing, and officers discovered the tragic scene around 8:40 a.m. during their search.
To prevent further damage to the body, one of the officers shot and killed the alligator. Divers were then called to the scene to retrieve the remains and the alligator from the bayou.
An autopsy will confirm the identity of the deceased and determine the cause of death. It is currently unclear if the alligator killed the woman or was scavenging her remains after she had died. The Houston homicide division is investigating the incident.
This rare occurrence marks the first fatal alligator attack in Texas since 2015, when a 28-year-old man was killed while swimming. In contrast, alligator attacks are more common in Florida. A similar incident happened last September in Florida, where a 14-foot alligator was found with a woman’s body in its jaws. The remains were later identified as a 41-year-old homeless woman named Sabrina Peckham, who the alligator had partially eaten.