Alligator Suspected in Death of Jogger

SUNRISE, Fla. – Authorities were trying to determine if a woman whose body was found in canal was killed by an alligator.

The dismembered body of Yovy Suarez Jimenez, 28, of Davie, was found Wednesday by construction workers. Jimenez went for a jog Tuesday night and did not return.

"We have witnesses and we have physical evidence to support our theory that the young lady was dragged into the water and attacked," said Officer Jorge Pino, spokesman for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. "But, that's a theory. We may never know. The possibility also exists that she might have fallen in."

Witnesses reported seeing a woman matching Jimenez's description dangling her feet over the water's edge, but no one saw an attack, Pino said.

An autopsy will determine if Jimenez died from drowning or injuries received from an attack by an alligator.

The animal, believed to be 8- to 10-feet long, will be caught and destroyed and the contents of its stomach will be examined, Pino said.

There have been 25 fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948, according to the wildlife commission.