HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina (KTRK) -- A 45-year-old woman was killed by an alligator in a popular vacation and golf destination.The attack happened just after 9:30 a.m. Monday in a gated community on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.According to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, witnesses saw the woman being attacked by an alligator as she walked her dog near a golf course. She has been identified as Cassandra Cline, age 45.Emergency crews recovered Cline's body from the lagoon. Her dog was not harmed during the incident.Authorities caught the alligator they believed to be responsible for the attack, and disposed of it.<doc-sep>Beaufort County deputies say the woman was walking her dog when she was attacked. 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.<doc-sep>HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina -- A woman trying to protect her dog was killed by an alligator who pulled her into a lagoon at a private South Carolina resort Monday, authorities said.Cassandra Cline, 45, of Hilton Head Island, was walking the dog along a residential area of Sea Pines Resort when she was attacked, state and local officials said. The 8-foot (2.5-meter) alligator was later found and killed, said David Lucas, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. "She was walking the dog near the lagoon and the alligator came out of the water and tried to get the dog," Lucas said. "The lady tried to rescue the dog and a maintenance worker ran over to help. "Both were trying to save the dog, but the alligator dragged the woman into the water, he said.The dog was unharmed. "It's common practice when we have an aggressive alligator like that, we put it down, but it will take some take some time to confirm it's the right alligator," said Capt. Robert McCullough of the Department of Natural Resources.Alligator attacks on humans are extremely rare, Lucas said.Since 1976, there have only been about 20 attacks on people in the state, he said. Until 2016, none of those attacks had been fatal. In 2016, a 90-year-old woman wandered away from a Charleston assisted living facility and was found dead in a pond.Blake Smith, 34, was leaving his house Monday morning when he saw police cars and firetrucks in the neighborhood. "I waited for about 30 minutes, then I started hearing rumors about what happened down the road from here," Smith told The Island Packet newspaper. "It's odd because this is the first time we've heard about an aggressive alligator around a human in the five years that we've been living here. "Smith said that at times, alligators have been spotted in yards or pools, but Sea Pines quickly removed those animals. "They do a good job. This is just a sad incident," he said. "I have a young son, so it's kind of concerning to see something like this could happen. "Sea Pines said in a statement that it's working with authorities "to ensure necessary access to the site while the investigation is underway. "The Sea Pines Resort is in the southern third of Hilton Head Island, located along 5,000 oceanfront acres (2,023 hectares), its website says.<doc-sep>
"When they arrived, fire personnel located the deceased woman inside of the lagoon and recovered her body, while deputies interviewed witnesses," said police A 45-year-old woman was attacked and killed by an alligator around 9:30 a.m. on Monday when she was walking her dog on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. According to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue and Sea Pines Security personnel responded to a lagoon off of Wood Duck Road in Sea Pines Plantation to a report of an alligator attacking a woman. The victim was later identified as Cassandra Cline, a resident of Sea Pines Living. “When they arrived, fire personnel located the woman inside of the lagoon and recovered her body, while deputies interviewed witnesses,” they wrote in a statement. Cline was walking her dog near the lagoon when she was attacked and pulled underwater by the 8-foot alligator. American Alligator Relaxes on Fallen Tree in Lake Credit: John J. Dreyer/Getty Images Sea Pines Living officials wrote in a statement on Facebook that they are “shocked and heartbroken” after hearing the news. “It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the tragic loss of one of our Sea Pines property owners Cassandra Cline,” they wrote. “The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement earlier today stating that Ms.Cline was killed by an alligator in a lagoon in the Club Course area of Sea Pines. An alligator—believed responsible for the attack—was located and removed from the scene.” According to the Sheriff’s Office, the Beaufort County Coroner, Edward Allen, scheduled an autopsy to be performed at the Medical University of South Carolina to determine her cause death. Cline’s dog did not appear to be harmed during the incident. David Lucas of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources told ABC News that “they were able to get her out of the water and she was still alive, but she died at the scene.” Lucas added that the only other reported death in South Carolina that was possibly related to an alligator in over four decades was in 2016.