A Florida woman drowned after a startled alligator tipped the canoe she and her husband were in and then attacked her. Cynthia Diekema, 61, of Davenport, was canoeing at about 4 p.m. on Lake Kissimmee on May 6 with her husband. The couple was in the mouth of Tiger Creek for the evening paddle when they drifted over the alligator in about 2.5 feet of water. The startled animal tipped over the 14-foot canoe and Diekema, who was in the bow and fell on the gator, was grabbed.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officials said her husband tried to intervene. He told officials the alligator took her under. Lake Kissimmee has the second-most alligators of any waterway in the state, behind Lake Okeechobee, according to a 2024 FWC report.
“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,” FWC Maj. Evan Laskowski said during a news conference May 7 in Tampa. FWC officials said multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the calls that came about 4 p.m. The search for Diekema’s body included drones and air support. Her body was spotted about 5 p.m. still with the alligator. It released her body and submerged, allowing officials to retrieve her.
A trapper assisting FWC captured two alligators in the area. One was 11 feet 4 inches long and matched the description and size of the one that attacked the couple. The other was between 10 and 11 feet. Both were killed for necropsies and DNA analysis. The trapper and FWC officials continued to monitor the area days after the attack.
The last fatal attack in Florida was in 2023, when a woman was killed while walking her dog near a neighborhood retention pond in St. Lucie County. That alligator was 10 feet long. State officials have recorded 487 unprovoked alligator bites on humans between 1984 and 2024, with 27 fatalities and 339 major bites.
Alligator hunting is legal in Florida and controlled through special seasons. Residents and nonresidents can obtain tags. The FWC increased the 2025 allotment by 1,000 tags. State officials also contract with trappers to remove problem gators. Between hunting and the removal program, about 15,000 alligators were killed in 2023.
