Cassandra Cline, 45, (pictured) was trying to protect her dog when she was attacked and killed by an eight-foot alligator near her gated community in South Carolina
The horrifying 911 call of a golfer who watched an alligator drag a woman to her death earlier this week in South Carolina has been revealed.
Cassandra Cline, 45, was trying to protect her dog when she was attacked and pulled into a lagoon on Monday on Hilton Head Island at about 9:30am.
The man who called for help was a golfer who watched helplessly as she was taken before calling 911.
He told the operator: ‘There’s a lady being attacked by an alligator.
‘It dragged her in the water. She’s in the water now.’
At the end of the call, he said: ‘I mean, what can you do? Jump in the water?
‘I don’t know!’
The alligator measured more than 9ft long.
Authorities said they found Cline’s body in the lagoon when they arrived.
Cline’s dog did not appear to be harmed during the incident.
She had been trying to save it when she was taken.
‘It appears the alligor went after her dog and she tried to protect it,’ Sam Chappalear of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources told The Island Packet.
The alligator was later found and euthanized. An autopsy is scheduled to be carried out by the Beaufort County Coroner.
Cline was pulled into a lagoon by the alligator (pictured) on Monday on Hilton Head Island at about 9:30am
Cline, who lived in the gated community, was dragged underwater by the alligator, according to witnesses
Cline lived in this home in the private Sea Pines Plantation, which is about a block away from the lagoon where she was killed
Blake Smith, 34, was leaving his house 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 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 lagoon (above) is surrounded by homes within the private Sea Pines Plantation community