Hilton Head, SC (WLTX) - A South Carolina woman trying to protect her dog from an alligator attack on Hilton Head ended up being killed by the gator herself, wildlife officials say.
Beaufort County deputies say around 9:30 a.m. Monday, they got an emergency call to a lagoon on Wood Ducks Road in the Sea Pines Plantation, a resort on the Island. When officers arrived, they found the woman, identified as 45-year-old Cassandra Cline of Hilton Head, dead inside the lagoon and recovered her body.
Witnesses told authorities Cline had been walking her dog near the water moments before the tragedy. The gator apparently went for the dog, biting down on the leash, and the woman tried to save her pet.
"It was some sort of a tug of war with her trying to get the dog back via the leash and in turn the alligator drug her and the dog into the water," said Sam Chappelear of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
A groundsworker and a neighbor heard her calls for help. Beaufort County Coroner Edward Allen says she was then dragged approximately 14 feet by the animal.
The 9 feet, 2 inch long alligator was hooked by staff at Sea Pines a short time later. Natural resources officers then took the animal and euthanized it, which they say is standard procedure in animal attacks on humans. A necropsy will be done to definitively determine it was the alligator involved in the attack.
Allen has scheduled an autopsy to be performed at the Medical University of South Carolina to determine Cline's exact cause of death.
The deceased woman's dog was not harmed during the incident.
Alligator attacks on humans are extremely rare, and SCDNR officials say they're usually scared of humans. "Typically they don't come up on land to go after their prey because they're going to stay in the water where they're comfortable," Chappelear said.
This is just the second fatal alligator attack in South Carolina since 1976. The other was two years ago in 2016.
"It's a rare occurrence, a sad situation," Allen said.
Cline was married, but her husband was out of the area when the attack happened.
Sea Pines Living Issued the following statement:
Dear Sea Pines Property Owners,
This morning Sea Pines Security Department and the Beaufort County Sherriff’s Department responded to a call reporting a deceased person found in a lagoon in the Club Course area of Sea Pines.
Sea Pines CSA is actively working with local authorities to ensure necessary access to the site while the investigation is underway. At this time, little information is available about the individual or incident. We are extremely saddened by this news and will share information with the community as it is made available.