69-year-old woman killed by an alligator drowned and had blunt force trauma, autopsy finds

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C (AP) — An autopsy reportedly shows that a 69-year-old woman who was killed by an alligator in South Carolina on Tuesday had drowned and experienced blunt force trauma. WTOC-11 reports that Holly Jenkins has been identified by the local coroner as the woman who officials say was walking her dog near a neighborhood lagoon on Hilton Head Island when a 9.75-foot alligator “engaged.” The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources says a necropsy report showed no evidence that anyone had fed the alligator, which was euthanized and removed from the lagoon. The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office tells WTOC-11 that the woman suffered alligator bites. The office says it’s unclear whether they happened before or after her death.