FLORIDA girl found dead in lake in possible gator attack

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) _ A 2-year-old girl was found dead in a lake Saturday, and police believe she may have been killed by an alligator. <br><br>Alexandria Murphy was reported missing after she wandered

Sunday, June 24th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) _ A 2-year-old girl was found dead in a lake Saturday, and police believe she may have been killed by an alligator.

Alexandria Murphy was reported missing after she wandered from her family's back yard. A sheriff's deputy found her body less than an hour later near the Lake Cannon shore.

She had bites on her arms and right thigh and a broken left arm _ injuries consistent with an alligator attack, said state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Gary Morse.

However, the girl could have drowned, and then been bitten, authorities said. An autopsy was scheduled Monday.

A commission trapper caught and killed the 6 1/2-feet-long gator suspected in the attack.

Eleven people have died in gator attacks in the last 50 years in Florida. The most recent death, a 71-year-old Sarasota man, occurred last month.