( CNN ) -- She lived the life of a little girl 's dream . From the time she visited SeaWorld as a 9-year-old , Dawn Brancheau was hooked . From then on , her family said , she was determined to be an animal trainer when she grew up . `` It was her dream job , '' Brancheau 's sister , Diane Gross , said Thursday . `` And our family got to ride along with her in her dream . '' But on Wednesday , Brancheau , 40 , died at the Orlando , Florida , park after a killer whale named Tilikum -- a whale she trained and cared for -- grabbed her ponytail and dragged her underwater in front of stunned onlookers . The Orange County medical examiner determined that she probably died from `` multiple traumatic injuries and drowning , '' the Orange County Sheriff 's Office said Thursday . `` She loved the animals like they were her own children , '' Gross said . `` She went to work every day . She loved what she did . '' Brancheau was the youngest of six children , born in Cedar Lake , Indiana . She attended Andrean High , a small Catholic school in Merrillville , Indiana , where she was a cheerleader , on the golf and track teams , and student council president . `` She was so involved with the different clubs . She was the homecoming queen , the prom queen ; she was pretty much everything , '' said Dave Pishkur , the school 's alumni director . Pishkur said Brancheau always talked about working with animals one day , and when she returned to Merrillville in 2007 for her 20th high school reunion , he remembers her being very attached to her whales . `` When we asked her if she had kids , she said , ' I do n't have time for a family now . My kids are my whales , ' `` Pishkur recalled . `` It 's devastating to think about what occurred , '' he added . Brancheau had worked at SeaWorld for 17 years , according to a SeaWorld spokeswoman Leigh Andrus . `` She was one of our most experienced killer whale trainers , '' Andrus said . Gross said her sister `` loved her whales . She loved her family , and she will be dearly missed . She was a wonderful sister and daughter and aunt to many nieces and nephews . '' She also leaves behind a husband , Scott . In a 2000 interview with CNN affiliate WESH-TV , Brancheau talked about the need to stay physically fit in order to deal with the physical exertion needed to work with the orca whales . She said she ran marathons , cycled and lifted weights to stay in the best condition possible . `` You want to prevent any injury and stay in great physical fitness so you can stay strong out there in the water with the animals , '' she said . `` Anything to keep you in shape for what we 're doing out there . '' She also said trainers have to get to know the animals ' behavior . `` We work with them day in and out , teaching them basic things as well as the more complicated moves that you see . '' SeaWorld has halted killer whale shows in all of its parks -- in Orlando ; San Antonio , Texas ; and San Diego , California -- until it can evaluate its safety protocols to provide the safest environment for its trainers . `` We will not move forward until that can happen with the trainers , '' Chuck Tompkins , SeaWorld 's curator for zoological operations , said on CNN 's `` American Morning . '' `` And out of respect for Dawn and her family , we want to take time to respect her , and that 's why currently we are not doing shows at SeaWorld , and we need to assure ourselves that we have the safest environment , '' he said . Dealing with a wild animal carries inherent risks . Tilikum has been linked to two other deaths . He and two other whales were involved in the drowning of a trainer at a Victoria , British Columbia , marine park in 1991 . The trainer fell into the whale tank at the Sea Land Marine Park Victoria and was dragged underwater as park visitors watched . In 1999 , Tilikum was blamed for the death of a 27-year-old man whose body was found floating in a tank at SeaWorld . Tompkins said that because of Tilikum 's size and his history , trainers did not get into the water with him . iReport : Photo shot moments before Sea World incident . No funeral arrangements for Dawn Brancheau have been announced . Her family must now deal with the shock and sadness of losing their wife , sister and friend , who had lived a little girl 's dream . `` To me , she had the most awesome job in the world , and she was the best , '' Gross said .
A whale dragged Dawn back underwater Wednesday . ` ` She treated the whales like they were her own children , '' she says . SeaWorld monitors all whale shows to evaluate safety .