Pinellas deputies investigating if woman’s death involved alligator

Deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a death near Largo.

At around 2 p.m. Friday, deputies responded to the area of 134th Avenue North and 121st Street, near Ridgecrest Park, after receiving a report about a body in the water. Members of the agency’s dive team later recovered a body from the water, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

With help from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, an alligator was located in the water and removed, according to the release. The male gator was 13 feet, 8½ inches long, and “was humanely killed.”

Sabrina Peckham, 41, was identified by police Saturday as the victim. The cause of death is pending.

Aerial photos from Spectrum Bay News 9 show officials gathered around the large alligator.

“A lot of my neighbors were out here and they’re the ones that told me about the gator,” area resident Jennifer Dean told Spectrum Bay News 9. “While we were standing here we heard a shot, I assume they killed the gator.”

Officials with the wildlife commission are aiding the investigation, according to commission spokesperson Ashlee Sklute.

The investigation is active and ongoing, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The scene is about a mile from where a Largo man was found dead in a lake with alligator-related injuries in May 2022. An autopsy later determined he drowned after he was attacked by an alligator.

The release said that anyone who is concerned about an alligator they see should call the wildlife commission’s Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-392-4286.

— Times staff writer Olivia George contributed to this report.