22-year-old mauled to death by her pit bulls while taking them for a walk

A 22-year-old Virginia woman was mauled to death by her two pit bulls while taking them for a walk near her home. They then stood guard over her body after killing her.

Bethany Lynn Stephens was taking her dogs out for a walk in Goochland, in the US state of Virginia, when they attacked her. Bethany’s dad called the emergency services at 8pm on Thursday after she hadn’t returned from walking the dogs. Then he went looking for her in the area where she often walked the dogs and found the disturbing scene. Bethany was found with horrific head and throat injuries while the dogs stood guarding her body aggressively.

Her body was found "guarded by two very large, brindle-colored pit bull dogs" on Thursday, Goochland County Sheriff James L. Agnew said during a news conference on Friday. Sheriff’s deputies arrived and spent around an hour to 90 minutes trying to catch the pit bulls, before Bethany’s body was taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Agnew said it is not clear why the dogs attacked Stephens. Police said they suspected the dogs had been bred to fight. Her cause of death was "consistent with being mauled by the dogs," reports said. 

"The first traumatic injury to her was to her throat and face," Agnew said. "It appears she was taken to the ground, lost consciousness, and the dogs then mauled her to death."

He added: "It was an absolutely grisly mauling. In my nearly 40 years in law enforcement, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I hope I never see anything like it again."

The dogs are now being held by Goochland County Animal Control, and the sheriff’s office will now order them to be euthanized, reports said.