Alligator in Canal May Have Slain Woman

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Construction workers found the dismembered body of a woman Wednesday who authorities say may have been attacked and dragged into a canal by an alligator.

Yovy Suarez Jimenez, 28, had gone out for a jog along a bicycle trail in Davie on Tuesday night, authorities said. Her body was found floating in a canal Wednesday, police Lt. Robert Voss said.

“We have witnesses and we have physical evidence to support our theory that the young lady was dragged into the water and attacked,” said Officer Jorge Pino, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “But that’s a theory. We may never know. The possibility also exists that she might have fallen in.”

Unidentified witnesses told investigators that a woman matching Jimenez’s description was seen dangling her feet over the water’s edge. But Pino said no one actually saw the attack.

Whether Jimenez drowned first or died from her wounds won’t be determined until an autopsy is performed, authorities said.

Experts say alligator attacks haven’t become more common but man’s interaction with the reptile has. As more land is developed to keep pace with Florida’s housing boom, more wildlife habitats are lost and alligators are more likely to wander into residential and commercial areas looking for food.

The lack of rain is also bringing alligators out of the wild.

“The [Florida] Everglades is very, very dry, so that means a lot of gators that were in the marshes are now in canals,” said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife scientist. “So probably everywhere you go in the western part of Broward County, there are more alligators in canals than there were a month ago.”