Alligator kills woman jogging by Florida canal

Yovy Suarez Jimenez, 28, was savaged by the 10ft-long reptile on land and then dragged into the water.

Nobody witnessed the attack, but residents told the police that they had seen a woman dangling her feet from a bridge over the canal in the town of Sunrise earlier that evening.

Building workers found Ms Jimenez's body the next day, floating in the canal. She was still wearing her Nike trainers, sports bra and biking shorts.

Shortly before her death on Tuesday night, Ms Jimenez, who was studying for a law degree and wanted to be an actress, spoke on her mobile phone to her mother, who had called to ask why she had not returned from an evening run.

She told her mother she was sitting on a bridge on the canal and assured her she would be back soon. She never arrived home.

A post-mortem examination showed that Ms Jimenez bled to death when an alligator attacked her and ripped off her arms close to her shoulders.

She also had bite marks on her legs and back.

Dr Joshua Perper, medical examiner for the Broward area, said: "It is my professional opinion that the alligator attacked the woman while she was on land.

"She died of traumatic injuries sustained by an alligator attack, a mixture of blood loss and shock, and died very fast."

Dr Perper said the alligator completely severed her arms, and bit her right leg and back before dragging the body under the water.

"I do not recall an alligator attack of this kind ever taking place in Broward or Miami-Dade," said Dr Perper.

"When they are hungry they can be very, very aggressive and attack for food purposes," he said.

Trappers were still searching for the alligator last night. They caught a seven-foot specimen, but it was not believed to be the killer.

If the alligator is found, it would be killed and its stomach contents examined, said Officer Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is investigating the death in conjunction with Sunrise police.

It emerged last night that Ms Jimenez had been suffering from depression and had been on medication. However, her family said they were convinced that her death was not suicide.

Her sister, Angie, said: "She was a great girl, a beautiful girl, full of charisma. She didn't deserve to die like that. She was a happy person."

There have been 25 fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948.

Experts say that most attacks occur because the reptiles are protecting their eggs or looking for food.