KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (WCIV) — A woman involved in a fatal alligator attack on Kiawah Island told her friend she wanted to move closer to the animal prior to the incident.According to the police report, on May 1, 58-year-old Cynthia Covert saw the alligator in a pond behind her friend's house and said she was getting closer.
The resident told police that she repeatedly told Covert to get away from the animal before the alligator came up and attacked about four feet from the edge of the water.
The resident's husband grabbed a shovel and tried hitting the animal, but it kept pulling Covert back into the water.
She said Covert never screamed during the incident and that the victim was eventually dragged underwater.
The woman added that Covert hadn't seemed like her normal self prior to the incident.
Covert's body was eventually recovered and a deputy was able to shoot and kill the alligator.
An autopsy on Monday revealed that the cause of death was drowning. The manner of death was ruled an accident.