South Carolina Woman Walking Her Dog Killed by Alligator

A woman who was walking her dog in Beaufort County, South Carolina, was killed by an alligator, which reportedly dragged her into the water.

In a statement on Aug. 20, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call at around 9:30 a.m. that someone was attacked by an alligator near the Sea Pines Plantation, a resort community on Hilton Head Island. Deputies then saw a body in a nearby lagoon.

“When they arrived, fire personnel located the deceased woman inside of the lagoon and recovered her body, while deputies interviewed witnesses. Witness accounts indicate that the woman—who will be identified after her next of kin are notified—was walking her dog near the lagoon when she was attacked and pulled underwater by the alligator,” according to the release from the sheriff’s office.

The Post and Courier reported that 45-year-old Cassandra Cline was identified as the slain woman.

Officials stated that the Sheriff’s Office Environmental Crimes Unit, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and Sea Pines Security were searching for the alligator. The Post and Courier later reported that the gator was captured by 11 a.m. local time.

The gator is said to be about 8 feet in length.

Beaufort County Coroner Edward Allen said that an autopsy will be performed at the Medical University of South Carolina to determine the cause of the woman’s death.

The dog was not killed during the alligator attack, officials said.

Sea Pines Living wrote a post on Facebook that warned residents and property owners about the attack.

“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,” the Facebook post reads. “We are extremely saddened by this news and will share information with the community as it is made available.”

Local authorities said the fatal alligator attack is the first one in decades in South Carolina, ABC News reported. Other than Cline’s death, there has been only one reported death in the past 42 years. But it remains a mystery as to whether alligators caused that woman’s death.

“It was in 2016,” David Lucas of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources told ABC. “A lady wandered off from a nursing home and she was found [deceased] in a pond, bitten pretty badly. But we don’t—knowand I don’t think we’ll ever be able to determine because there were no witnesses—whether she fell in and was then bitten, or whether she was attacked and then dragged into the pond.”

Alligators fear humans until they are fed by them, say experts. That's when they become very dangerous. Rhona Wise/AFP/Getty Images

Last Fatal Gator Attack Was in June

In June 2018, Florida authorities said a 12-foot-long alligator attacked and killed a woman who was walking her dog in Davie, Florida.

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At the time, Florida Wildlife Commission spokesman Rob Klepper said in a statement that Shizuka Matsuki, 47, of Plantation, was found dead at the Silver Lakes Rotary Nature Park, according to the Miami Herald. “We would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Matsuki,” Klepper wrote at the time.

“Her dogs won’t leave the pond,” Davie Police Maj. Dale Engle told USA Today after the June attack. “One of her dogs got bit by the gator.”