A woman was mauled to death by her own pit bulls, who then stood guard over her bloodied body.

Bethany Lynn Stephens was taking her dogs out for a walk in Goochland, in the US state of Virginia, when they attacked her. Police said the 22-year-old suffered horrific head and throat injuries.

Bethany’s dad called the emergency services at 8pm on Thursday after she hadn’t returned from walking the dogs.

He went looking around the area where she often walked the dogs, and found the disturbing scene. Local news station WTVR reported that he found her dogs in the woods, appearing to be ‘guarding’ Bethany’s body.

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.