Examiner reveals Florida fisherman, 71, was alive when a 12ft alligator dragged him under while he posed with his catch

Steven Hamilton's death has been attributed to a combination of drowning and blunt force trauma to his left leg, with the manner ruled accidental. He had just raised a bass for a photograph at Dr Bradford Memorial Park in Winter Garden on Friday when the attack occurred. The alligator came to the surface with him before dragging him back under. Hamilton was a member of the Bone Brothers Band for nearly four decades.

'The gator came up and grabbed him by the leg and pulled him in,' said witness Beatrice Soto.

His body was not pulled from Lake Apopka — a waterway with a population of more than 4,600 alligators — until two hours after the attack.

Trappers killed the 11ft 8in alligator, Florida's second fatal attack this year.