PANTEGO — A month after his cousin died from injuries sustained in an animal attack, Joseph Allen carries a gun regularly and won’t let his grandchildren wander as freely as they once did, even during the daylight hours.

Allen lives two miles away from where an animal attacked Pungo Christian Academy teacher Brenda Hamilton, and that attack has made a difference in his daily routine. It’s made him more cautious, and he’s not the only one in Pantego taking extra precautions, Allen said.

“People in this area are basically living in fear,” Allen said. “It’s the not knowing. If we had some kind of idea what it was, we would know what to be looking for.”

Above all, Allen says he doesn’t want his cousin’s story to fade away without resolution. While Allen says the lack of answers is frustrating, he also understands the difficulties the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office faces in investigating a wild animal attack, something the agency rarely deals with.

“I’m not saying anything against the Sheriff’s Office,” Allen said. “This is not the kind of investigation they would normally be involved in. They’re having to rely on other resources.”

Hamilton, 77, of Pantego, was on her regular morning walk on Friday, Feb. 15, when an animal, or animals, of a yet-determined species attacked her. A neighbor, alerted by his dogs barking, called 911 at 5:47 a.m. BCSO investigators, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission officers and a NCWRC biologist responded to the scene on Indian Run Road, along with Beaufort County EMS.

According to the BCSO, Hamilton suffered injuries to both arms and legs during the attack. While no one witnessed the attack, canine DNA from two distinct animals was discovered on Hamilton’s clothing. Hamilton died from her injuries three days later.

Questions remain as to what was responsible for her death as the investigation into Hamilton’s death continues.

“So far, more than 40 tests have been done,” BCSO Lt. Jim Vanlandingham said. “So far, there is not a smoking gun at this point.”

In addition to testing DNA evidence, there was an attempt to track the creatures using a dog trained to track bear, which yielded no results. As to signs or tracks at the scene, there was very little in the way of physical evidence left behind at the scene that could be used to identify the animal, according to Vanlandingham.

In preliminary DNA testing facilitated by the NCWRC biologist, the DNA was found to be canine in origin, but the initial testing was unable to determine the difference between wild and domestic canines. To establish whether any domestic canines might have been responsible for the attack, the BCSO collected DNA samples from 16 local dogs to be tested against the DNA found on Hamilton’s clothing.

Those DNA samples were, in turn, sent to a university laboratory for testing, a process that has been ongoing for the past four weeks. According to Vanlandingham, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has been in contact with the lab to assist with the process. He could not confirm, however, whether or not the agency had provided coyote and red wolf DNA profiles to the lab for testing.

Attempts to reach the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were not answered as of press time.