Police tracked down 12ft alligator that mauled and killed hiker, 31

A 12-foot alligator that mauled a woman to death while she was swimming in a Florida river has been tracked down by police.

Brittany Clark, 31, was killed on June 28 after being attacked by the 12-foot alligator while hiking with her boyfriend, Chance Allison, her friends and dogs in the Little Big Econ State Forest, just northeast of Orlando.

As Clark stood in just three feet of water while the group stopped to take a dip, the huge reptile suddenly attacked.

The animal lunged and grabbed Clark’s arm, dragging her into a death roll – a violent spinning manoeuvre alligators use to overpower prey.

Now, however, police have managed to identify the alligator by the bite marks it left on her arm which matched up with its teeth.

A preliminary report from the Orange County Medical Examiner, which was obtained by the New York Post, said: ‘A row of teeth on the gator head is consistent with teeth marks on the left arm.’

After the alligator grabbed Clark’s arm, her boyfriend, Allison, desperately tried to pull it away and was dragged into the water himself during the struggle.

Clark was briefly let go by the alligator, however shortly afterwards it attacked again and bit her other arm before retreating.

Allison managed to pull Clark out of the water, but by that point she had suffered catastrophic injuries.

According to the medical examiner’s report, her left arm was partially severed while her right arm sustained an open fracture consistent with injuries caused during the alligator’s death roll.

By the time she reached the riverbank, her friends had called 911 and emergency crews rushed to the scene.

Despite medics finding a faint pulse, Clark died en route to the hospital, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. She was pronounced dead at 2.48pm.

Wildlife officers later captured and euthanised two large alligators believed to have been involved in the attack – one measuring 12.5ft and the other 13ft.

After DNA samples were taken from both animals, examiners later concluded that the jaws of the smaller alligator matched the bite marks found on Clark’s arm, and it was identified as the animal responsible for the fatal attack.

CCTV footage shows a police officer sprinting through the bushes to get to Clark in the river.

A distressing 911 call was also made earlier, where one caller can be heard telling the dispatcher: ‘Bad, real bad please, hurry… she’s losing a lot of… please hurry…’

When asked how severe the injuries were, the caller replied: ‘Horrible. Both her arms are dislocated… off basically… one arm is completely off.’

Clark’s death was the third fatal alligator attack reported in Florida within a seven-day period, with two of those deaths occurring within 24 hours in Central Florida.

Posting on Facebook, Allison paid tribute to Clark by writing: ‘I’m just still in disbelief of what took place. We had so many things planned out and memories to be made.

‘You were such a special person and did not deserve to go out in such a way. I love you.’

Referring to her two dogs, he then added: ‘And don’t worry about Shady and Hokie. I’ll take care of them forever.’