The Latest: Official: Woman killed by gator was saving dog

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The Latest on a fatal alligator attack in South Carolina. (all times local):

1:55 p.m.

A South Carolina official says a woman who was killed by an alligator was trying to protect her dog.

Sam Chappalear of South Carolina Department of Natural Resources says it appears the alligator was going after 45-year-old Cassandra Cline's dog in the Monday morning attack on Hilton Head Island. Authorities say the dog appeared to be unharmed after the attack.

Witnesses told the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office the woman was pulled under the surface of the water by the alligator thought to be about 8 feet (2.5 meters) long.

Chappalear says the alligator has been caught and euthanized.

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1:35 p.m.

Authorities have released the identity of a woman who was killed in an alligator attack on South Carolina's Hilton Head Island.

Beaufort County Coroner Edward Allen identified the woman as 45-year-old Cassandra Cline of Hilton Head Island. Allen scheduled an autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the attack happened around 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Sea Pines resort as the woman walked her dog near a lagoon.

Witnesses say the woman was pulled under the surface of the water by an alligator thought to be about 8 feet (2.5 meters) long.

The alligator believed to have been responsible for the attack was located later Monday, the sheriff's office said without specifying exactly what happened after it was found.

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1 p.m.

Authorities in South Carolina say an alligator attacked a woman who was walking her dog, pulling her underwater in a lagoon and killing her.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that the attack happened around 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Sea Pines resort on Hilton Head Island.

Witnesses say the woman was pulled under the surface of the water by an alligator thought to be about 8 feet (2.5 meters) long.

Beaufort County Coroner Edward Allen scheduled an autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina.

The woman's dog did not appear to have been hurt, the sheriff's department said.

The sheriff's department, state Department of Natural Resources, and resort security personnel are looking for the alligator.