A suspected shark attack victim on Maui was likely dead before other snorkelers got her to shore, a recording of a 911 call indicates.
The recording from the April 29 incident was released to the news media Thursday.
Margaret C. Cruse was pulled from the ocean at a place called The Dumps at Ahihi Kinau Natural Area Reserve near Makena.
Cruse, 65, of Kihei had been snorkeling with friends, but there were no reported witnesses to the attack.
In an eight-minute 911 call, a man who was involved in pulling the woman from the ocean told the dispatcher Cruse had suffered severe trauma to her shoulder and arm.
"I don’t know exactly what a shark bite looks like, but also on the back of her head she’s got a wound," he said.
He said she was found wearing a blue suit, yellow fins and had a key around her neck. She was not wearing a snorkeling mask.
The man said it took him and others 15 minutes to bring her to shore.
The call initially came from a man who left the shore to go to the parking lot to find someone with a cellphone.
"They found her face down, no snorkel," he said.
The dispatcher told him to head back down to the beach to see if anyone was performing CPR. But as he began to lose the signal, she told him instead to stay near the road and flag down the rescue crews and police.
He then handed the phone off to one of the men who had found Cruse in the water.
A woman who joined in the call later told the dispatcher that nobody was performing CPR and that the body was covered.
Police at the time said the injuries were consistent with a shark attack.
Police spokesman Lt. William Juan said Thursday an autopsy showed no signs of foul play.
The incident marked the third fatal shark attack in the ocean off South Maui in less than two years.
A shark bit 20-year-old visitor Jana Lutteropp in waters off Keawakapu Beach, severing her right arm on Aug. 14, 2013. She died from her injuries a week later.
Patrick A. Briney, 57, of Stevenson, Wash., died from severe bleeding from a shark bite on his right leg in the ocean off Makena Landing while kayak fishing on Dec. 2, 2013.
The 911 call can be heard online at the Maui Police Department website, co.maui.hi.us/index.aspx?nid=122. Find the story under "latest news" at the right side of the page.
