SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — Investigators believe a 60-year-old woman's death in Sumter County is the result of a dog attack.
Authorities said Lori Martin of Anchorage, Alaska was visiting family in the Cherryvale area on Thursday when she was attacked. The sheriff's office said a family member's dogs were fighting each other in the South Lake Cherryvale Drive home at the time.
Investigators said Martin had multiple cuts on her body consistent with dog bites and claw scratches. The dogs also had cuts that are believed to be dog bites and scratches.
According to the sheriff's office, Martin was found unresponsive by a family member before noon on Thursday which investigators believe wasn't long after the attack.
"We have not seen anything of this nature in a very long time and this is such a tragic thing to take place just before the holidays,” Sheriff Anthony Dennis said in a statement.
Four of the six dogs at the home were taken in for quarantine by the sheriff's office during the investigation. Three are Boxers and one is a Pitbull. Investigators believe these dogs were involved in the incident and will be examined to determine their temperament and decide whether they should be considered vicious.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Dennis said the owner of the dogs has no criminal record and they hadn't had previous calls to the residents. There was also no record of dogfighting in that area.
An autopsy has already been scheduled for Wednesday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston according to Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker.
