Horror as woman dies on hike with her boyfriend after alligator ripped BOTH of her arms off

By LAURA PARNABY, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 16:05, 30 June 2026 | Updated: 16:10, 30 June 2026 A 31-year-old woman has died after an alligator ripped both of her arms off while she was hiking with her boyfriend and best friend in central Florida.  The vicious attack unfolded as the trio took a dip in the shallows of the Econlockhatchee River in Little Big Econ State Forest, located about 20 miles northeast of Orlando.  The hikers waded into water at about 1.30pm to cool off when the alligator pounced on the woman, who has not yet been publicly identified.  Screaming and crying could be heard in harrowing audio of the 911 call her boyfriend made to emergency services as the predator tore off her limbs.  He could be heard telling call handlers he was 'still trying to get her arms away from the alligator's mouth' as he made the call.  Moments later, he told the operator that 'both her arms, both her arms are off', while her friend told them that one arm was 'hanging by a thread'.  When the dispatcher asked where the other arm was, the woman replied: 'Gone'.  The victim's boyfriend described the situation as 'bad, real bad' while urging responders to 'please hurry... she's losing a lot of...' he said before trailing off.  A 31-year-old woman has died after an alligator ripped both of her arms off while she was hiking with her boyfriend and best friend in central Florida  The vicious attack unfolded as the trio took a dip in the shallows of the Econlockhatchee River (pictured above) in Little Big Econ State Forest, 20 miles north-east of Orlando The gator eventually 'went away', the boyfriend told the operator, before describing his girlfriend's injuries as 'horrible'.  He said he had stepped in to help, and he dragged his girlfriend out of the water with the help of her friend.  'We're far off the trail, we're off of a little launch area by the river ... We need help now!' he told the operator.  'You may see a helicopter. If you see it, just try and flag it down if you can,' the operator responded. The victim, who was from Orlando, was rushed to hospital, but she died en route.  She had been relaxing close to Barr Street Trailhead, a popular hiking route, which is now closed until further notice.  Officials who combed the scene in the aftermath found two alligators - one 12ft long and the other 13ft.  The animals have undergone DNA testing to determine which one attacked the hiker. She had been hiking close to Barr Street Trailhead, a popular walking route close to Orlando The horrific incident marks the third alligator attack in central Florida over the last week. Seven days before, a gator attack was reported at Rainbow River in Merriam County, and a child was injured in another incident in the same county on Saturday.  Attacks on humans are rare in the US, according to the Florida Wildlife Commission, but alligators are more territorial during mating season, which lasts from April until the end of June.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.