Florida woman was killed by alligator while canoeing as husband tried to help, FWC says
(This story was revised for a minor edit.)
A 61-year-old Davenport woman was killed while canoeing near the mouth of Tiger Creek on Lake Kissimmee about 4 p.m. May 6, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
FWC Maj. Evan Laskowski said Cynthia Diekema was killed after the canoe she was riding in with her husband passed over an alligator hidden beneath them in roughly 2.5 feet of water.
"This is not believed to be a predatory incident, but simply a defense incident where they came upon the alligator beneath the water's edge and when the canoe struck it, it caused a reaction," Laskowski said during a news conference May 7 in Tampa.
The couple headed out on a 14-foot canoe into Lake Kissimmee, which has the second highest population of alligators in the state with more than 16,000, according to a 2024 census from FWC. It's second only to Lake Okeechobee.
According to Laskowski, Diekema was sitting in the bow of the canoe, when the alligator thrashed and tipped the boat over. The couple were sent into the water. "She ended up on top of the alligator in the water and was bitten," Laskowski said. "Her husband attempted to intervene was but unsuccessful."
A Computer-Aided Dispatch report obtained by The Ledger from Polk County Sheriff's Office shows FWC reached out for assistance at 4:05 p.m. FWC requested a unit and emergency medically personnel to the site for potentially two alligator victims.
The Osceola County Sheriff's Office had received a call at 3:59 p.m. reporting, "man advised his wife had been killed by an alligator," according to the CAD report. Not much other information was immediately available to Polk deputies.
At 4:35 p.m., the husband reported "he last saw vic[tim] in the gator's mouth before she disappeared," according to the CAD report. Responders at the scene had air support and later brought drones into the area helping search for Diekema.
At 5:04 p.m., Polk deputies in a helicopter spotted Diekema from the air and reported the gator still had her in its mouth.
"The gator actively has the victim," reads the dispatch report at 5:05 p.m.
Moments later, FWC officials were able to recover Diekema's body from the water as the alligator slipped back under.
There is still an active investigation into the fatal attack, according to FWC officials.
FWC officials said they contracted a trapper who has captured two alligators in the area off Lake Kissimmee since the attack.
Laskowski said the first gator was 11-foot, 4-inches long and matched the description of the alligator that attacked the couple. A second alligator measuring 10 to 11 feet in length was also captured and killed.
FWC agents working with trappers remained near the scene of the attack watching for alligators in the size range of concern on the afternoon of May 7.
There have been 487 unprovoked alligator bites on people between 1984 and 2024, according to the FWC. Of those, 339 were major bites and 27 were fatal.
"Alligator attacks resulting in fatalities are extremely rare," FWC Executive Director Roger Young said at the May 7 news conference in Tampa. "This tragedy serves as a somber reminder that they share our natural spaces."
The last fatal attack occurred in 2023 while a woman was walking her dog along the edge of a retention pond in St. Lucie County. The alligator was 10 feet long.
FWC oversees the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program to help address alligators that may pose a threat to people, pets or property. Each year it issues tags to hunters across the state to remove alligators 4-feet or longer in length.
Young said FWC increased the allotment for the 2025 statewide alligator hunt by 1,000 tags. Between the hunt and SNAP program, up to 15,000 alligators were taken out of the wild in 2023, he said.
"It's hard to say those numbers correlate," he said. " There are going to be alligators in the population in the wild anyway. With alligators in the wild, the potential is always there."
FWC recommended the following tips for staying safe when out in nature and around alligators:
Keep a safe distance if you see an alligator.
Keep pets on a leash and away from the water's edge. Pets often resemble alligators' natural prey.
Swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours and without your pet. Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn.
Never feed an alligator. It's illegal and dangerous.
If there is concern about a gator, contact FWC's toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Alligator attack in Florida: Woman killed in Lake Kissimmee
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