A pack of large dogs is responsible for NC teacher’s horrific death, new report says
The vicious mauling death of a 77-year-old school teacher in eastern North Carolina is being blamed on a pack of dogs, according to a report presented this week to the Beaufort County commissioners.
However, it remains a mystery which dogs killed Brenda Hamilton on Feb. 15, 2019, as DNA evidence found no clear match to canines living in the area, the report states.
“It is my opinion that Mrs. Hamilton was attacked by dogs, this based on the physical blood splatter and DNA evidence,” wrote medical examiner AnnMarie Clark, of the University of Florida Veterinary Forensic Laboratory.
“Based on the amount of physical damage caused to Mrs. Hamilton, it was probably multiple dogs, probably 50 or more pounds. ... I cannot speculate on where the dogs came from or if they were pets or ferals.”
Hamilton was attacked about 5:30 a.m. while walking in the Pantego community, about 135 miles east of Raleigh, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office press release.
Neighbors told investigators they were “awakened by their dogs barking by the road” and investigated to find “Hamilton who was lying in a ditch submerged up to her shoulders in water,” according to a sheriff’s office release.
“EMS personnel arrived to find Hamilton suffering from catastrophic injuries to both arms, both legs, and her scalp ... A considerable amount of blood was also found on the road leading Investigators to where Hamilton was found in the ditch,” officials said.
Hamilton was a wife, mother and grandmother, and she taught 51 years, most recently at Pungo Christian Academy, which referred to her on Facebook as the school’s “matriarch.”
The severity of her injuries — and the inability to name the culprits — led to wide speculation in the community, including talk of hybrid wolves or panthers being responsible. (There are no panthers, pumas or mountain lions in North Carolina, the state says.)
Investigators reported taking 14 DNA samples from pet dogs in immediate area, but found no match.
Clark’s report was presented June 7 to the Beaufort County Commission and credited to experts at Maples Center for Forensic Medicine at the the University of Florida.
The commission asked the university’s experts to determine the species that attacked Hamilton, and “generate a profile” if her killer was found to be a dog or dogs.
Among the report’s conclusions:
The DNA evidence points to domestic dogs. However, there is no “solid evidence” linking the attack to specific dogs in the area.
There is no evidence the attack involved bears, wild cats (pumas panthers, mountain lions and bobcats) or other species of canine, like coyotes, wolves or fox.
The conclusions were based on the “currently available data and are subject to change if new date become available.”
Social media reaction to the report has ranged from doubts about the conclusions to fear the animals responsible were never caught.
“I find it hard to believe dogs did this,” Brandon Berry said on Facebook, after sharing news of the report.
“It took almost 2 years to say it was a dog? I’m not a forensic scientist but I say no,” Buddy Brickhouse wrote on station WITN’s Facebook page.
“I live close. It wasn’t no dogs. I still say panther. Not more than a month later one ran a lady in the house 100 yards from where she was killed,” Terry Hopkins posted.
