{"id":1534,"date":"2026-10-21T11:58:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T11:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/?p=1534"},"modified":"2026-10-21T12:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T12:00:45","slug":"fisherman-71-posed-for-photo-moments-before-alligator-dragged-him-into-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/?p=1534","title":{"rendered":"Fisherman, 71, \u2018posed for photo\u2019 moments before alligator dragged him into lake"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fisherman\u2019s final moments before a horrific alligator attack in Florida have emerged, as witnesses recount the tragic incident and new details come to light.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Steven Hamilton, 71, was a regular visitor to Dr. Bradford Memorial Park in Winter Garden, Florida , where he reportedly went fishing every day. But on this particular visit, tragedy struck.<\/p>\n

The fatal encounter took place on October 16. According to reports, witnesses saw Hamilton posing for a photo with a fish he had caught moments before an alligator\u00a0 , <\/a>about 11 feet, 8 inches long, seized him by the leg and dragged him beneath the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe caught a bass. He held it up for whoever it was to take a picture of him, and the gator came up and grabbed him by the leg and pulled him in,\u201d witness Beatrice Soto told WFTV\u00a0 , according to\u00a0 LAdnible<\/p>\n

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Wildlife trappers managed to restrain the alligator and pull Hamilton from the water, but he was pronounced dead shortly afterward.<\/p>\n

Steven Hamilton was killed by alligator<\/h2>\n

Another regular at the park, Connor Kelley, told the outlet: \u201cAs I was leaving to go home, I heard someone say apparently it was an older gentleman who fishes there every night, and just immediately my stomach dropped because I was so worried it was Steve, and it turns out it unfortunately was.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very kind man, very relatable.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was not someone that, you know, was harassing any alligators or anything like that. It was just a very unfortunate event that happened and a very sober reminder of, you know, how just mindful to be around water in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shared a statement saying: \u201cThe FWC extends its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of the victim during this difficult time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an active investigation, and this is all the information available at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alligator attacks in Florida<\/h2>\n

Despite the tragic incident, the FWC emphasized that fatal alligator attacks remain rare.<\/p>\n

\u201cSerious injuries caused by alligators are rare in Florida,\u201d the FWC said, according to LADbible.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe FWC places the highest priority on public safety and administers a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) to address complaints concerning specific alligators believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople with concerns about an alligator should call FWC\u2019s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone concerned about an alligator calls the Nuisance Alligator Hotline, we will dispatch one of our contracted nuisance alligator trappers to resolve the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fisherman\u2019s final moments before a horrific alligator attack in Florida have emerged, as witnesses recount the tragic incident and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1534"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1538,"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534\/revisions\/1538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickrecipes.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}