Mom jumps in freezing Michigan water to save Lola, her pup. Only the dog survived

Tracy Cashman, a 38-year-old mother and school employee, left at 8:30 Saturday evening to take her dog Lola for a walk, WOOD reported. Lola came back, a short time later, soaking wet — but Cashman never did.

Officials later found her body underneath the ice at a nearby park, where they believe she had tried to rescue Lola when the dog fell in, according to the station.

“If the dog was struggling, she would save that dog,” Cashman’s mother Rhonda Moore said, according to WZZM. “Whether it was her dog, somebody else’s dog, a child — it would be instinct. She would just do it.”

Cashman’s boyfriend Jerome See figured the dog had just gotten away, according to Fox 17.

“The dog came back, and she didn’t, and I figured she was just looking for the dog, so I waited, and I guess I waited too long,” he said, according to the station.

At around 9 p.m., with Cashman nowhere in sight, the family left to search for her, and called police when they couldn’t find her, Fox 17 reported.

Shortly after midnight, officials discovered Cashman’s body in a frozen pond, and performed a cold-water rescue, MLive reported. It was too late — Cashman was already dead, according to the site. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.

“She would have never gone out on that ice if something tragic didn’t happen to that dog,” Moore said, according to WOOD. “I mean, that dog must have broke the ice and gone under or she wouldn’t have been out there because she knows better. But it’s instinct. If it was a child, she would have gone out there. It was instinct for her.”

Cashman had worked for Godfrey-Lee Public Schools for 15 years, according to Fox 17.

“She loved it. She loved those people. She loved those kids,” Moore said, according to the station.

The district announced a half-day in her honor, and asked that people keep the family in their thoughts and prayers. A GoFundMe page was set up to help pay funeral expenses, and it raised nearly $4,000 in 13 hours.

On Facebook, people posted remembrances.

“Tracey was such a beautiful person inside and out she helped me through everything at lee what will we all do with out you!” Monica Martinez wrote.

“Tracy Cashman beautiful soul inside and out ... .thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this tragic time ... Please keep her children, significant other and family and friends in your prayers ... my promise to you,your children, will be under my wing. Watch over us you are greatly missed,” wrote Jennifer Dixon.

“[She was] an all-around caring and loving person,” said friend Melissa Dalman, according to WZZM. “It didn’t matter who you were, she was always there for you.”