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Children Watch As Mom Drowns Off Clearwater Beach

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TBO.com

Published: July 24, 2008

Updated: 07/24/2008 07:27 pm

CLEARWTER - The woman who drowned Wednesday night in the Gulf of Mexico was a Norwegian tourist who was overtaken by a wave as her children watched from the beach, Clearwater police said.

The woman was identified this morning as Alicja I. Dyga, 51, said Clearwater public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts.

Dyga was swimming just north of Pier 60 at about 9:30 p.m., when she disappeared in the water, Daly-Watts said. Her children, ages 8 and 16, ran to help her but couldn't find her, the spokeswoman said. Witnesses then called 911.

The 911 recording, released today by police, described how witnesses frantically scanned the water to catch sight of Dyga.

"There is a mother missing," the caller told dispatchers. "There's a mother missing in the water. Yes, they can't find her. OK, somebody actually saw her physically go in the water and not come out."

Dyga was discovered at 10:03 p.m., about a quarter-mile north of where she vanished, close to the shore, Daly-Watts said. Firefighters dragged her from the water and administered CPR, but it was too late. She was pronounced dead after being transported to Morton Plant Hospital.

Clearwater police have made arrangements for the children, and authorities contacted their father, who is in Norway, by telephone. The children will be flown back to their father, police said.

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