Overview
- On June 28, 31-year-old Brittany Clark was fatally attacked while sitting in about three feet of water in the Econlockhatchee River and later died at a hospital.
- Seminole County deputies and contracted trappers recovered and humanely euthanized two large alligators near the Barr Street Trailhead and sent tissue to a Gainesville lab for forensic DNA testing that is still pending.
- Harrowing bodycam footage released this week shows a deputy’s attempt to help at the scene, and Clark’s boyfriend, Chance Allison, gave a July 3 interview clarifying he tried to free her, focused on stemming her bleeding rather than giving CPR, and denied hearing a clear warning from a hiker.
- Allison said one of Clark’s last requests was to care for her dog Hokie, that the dogs were on the riverbank during the attack, and that he is coordinating funeral and celebration-of-life plans with her family.
- Florida Fish and Wildlife officials point to low water and seasonal alligator behavior as factors that can concentrate gators and raise encounter risk and the Barr Street Trailhead remains closed while the FWC-led review and public-safety messaging continue.