An alligator killed a senior walking her dog in a high-end neighborhood and was found 'guarding' her corpse

• A woman, 69, was killed by an alligator in South Carolina.
• Rescue efforts were interrupted when the alligator appeared and started "guarding" the woman's body.

A 69-year-old woman was attacked and killed by an alligator while walking her dog in an exclusive neighborhood in South Carolina, authorities said.

It is the second fatal alligator attack on the upscale Hilton Head Island in under a year.

The woman was found unresponsive at the edge of a lagoon near a golf course in the Spanish Wells community in Hilton Head Island, Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Rescue efforts were momentarily interrupted when the alligator appeared and started "guarding" the woman's body, the sheriff's office said.

The dead woman was named Holly Jenkins, according to local outlet WYFF4.com.

The womad left home to walk her dogs around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, and family members went looking for her when the dogs came back without her, Maj Angela Viens,or Beaufort County Sheriff's Off spokesmanice, told The New York Times.

She was spotted by a family member who then contacted emergency services at around 9:30 am, the outlet reported.

The 9-foot, 9-inch male alligator was euthanized and removed from the lagoon, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said.

On Thursday, the department released the findings from the alligator's autopsy. It confirmed the reptile was involved in the woman's death, SCDNR said, per Wyff4.com.

Alligator attacks are more common near bodies of water and when a pet accompanies a person, said Jay Butfiloski, the alligator program coordinator with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

"It's unlikely for them to leave the water to come after someone," he told The New York Times. "They're not going to chase you down the fairway in these golfing communities."

This is the second fatal alligator attack on the idyllic island escape for America's business and entertainment elite and wealthy retirees. Last August, an 88-year-old woman was killed by an alligator after authorities believe she fell into a pond.

Butfiloski told The New York Times last August that fatal alligator attacks were rare but had increased in recent years due increased in building development and people moving into areas previously occupied by alligators.