A Florida woman died Tuesday afternoon when an alligator flipped her canoe and attacked her in Lake Kissimmee, which is south of Orlando and East of Tampa.
Cynthia Diekema, 61, sat at the bow of the 14-foot canoe as she and her husband paddled the shallow depths near the mouth of Tiger Creek, according to The Lakeland Ledger.
The couple passed over an alligator in 2.5 feet of water, and the reptile began thrashing and flipped the couple’s boat over.
“She ended up on top of the alligator in the water and was bitten,” Maj. Evan Laskowski of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said at a news conference Wednesday.
“Her husband attempted to intervene, but was unsuccessful,” Laskowski said.
A sheriff’s office helicopter crew later spotted Diekema’s body floating in the water.
Bradley Johnson, the public information officer for FWC Division of Law Enforcement, said such alligator attacks are rare.
“This is not believed to be a predatory incident but simply a defensive incident, where they came upon the alligator beneath the water’s edge, and when the canoe struck it, it caused a reaction,” Laskowski said at the news conference.
That night, trappers caught two alligators that matched the description: one was 11 feet, 4 inches long and the other about 10 to 11 feet long, according to WKMG-TV in Orlando.
Both alligators were killed.
Florida woman killed by alligator during couple canoe trip. Cynthia Diekema of Polk County, was canoeing with her husband at the mouth of Tiger Creek near Lake Kissimmee when their vessel drifted over a large alligator in approximately 2.5 feet of water.https://t.co/LKWfCApbAm pic.twitter.com/3fZC4GK1rD
— News Channel3 Now (@newschannel3now) May 8, 2025
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is still investigating the attack.
“While alligator attacks resulting in fatalities are extremely rare, this tragedy serves as a somber reminder of the powerful wildlife that share our natural spaces,” Col. Roger Young, executive director of the commission, said.
In March, a woman was attacked by an alligator while kayaking along Tiger Creek, according to Florida Today.
The woman went into shock and needed a tourniquet after an alligator shredded her elbow.
She was later flown to a hospital for treatment while trappers set out to search for the alligator, WKMG-TV reported on March 3.
Lake Kissimmee had the second highest population of alligators in Florida, numbering more than 16,000, while Lake Okeechobee had the most, according to The Lakeland Ledger, citing 2024 FWC census data.
Alligators are a problem in the state — so much so that it has an alligator elimination program, according to Florida Today.
The Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program uses contracted trappers to remove alligators that pose a threat to people, pets or property, according to a statement from SNAP.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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