Police say the search for a man missing for several days in Australia has come to a “tragic ending” after his remains were found inside a crocodile.
Kevin Darmody, 65, was reported missing on Saturday after he went on a fishing trip with friends.
He was last seen on the banks of the Kennedy River, which is infested with saltwater crocodiles, at Rinyirru (Lakefield) national park in a remote part of northern Queensland.
The police zeroed in on two large crocodiles in the river after two days of searches did not yield any results.
The two crocodiles were shot dead and a necropsy revealed the presence of human remains inside the stomach of one of the reptiles.
While the remains were found in only one crocodile, another was killed as both were believed to be involved in the attack.
The two crocodiles, measuring 4.1m (13.4 ft) and 2.8m in length, were located upstream from where the man went missing in the park.
The remains found inside the reptile are yet to be identified but police have ended their search for the man.
His friend John Peiti, who was with him on the fishing trip, said he heard his last screams and reached the site within a minute.
He said he didn’t believe the crocodile lunged out of the water to grab Darmody, speculating that a monitor lizard may have made him lose his balance and fall into the river.
“I heard Kev roaring about three times and I tried to look down to see what was going on,” Mr Peiti told Cape York Weekly.
“Next minute, I heard a big splash and I raced down. I reckon it only took me half a minute to get where he had been but there was no sign of him, just his thongs on the bank and nothing else.”
“I think Kev might have been roaring at this goanna and maybe he’s lost his balance and gone in (the water),” Mr Peiti said. “That’s the only explanation I can think of.”
Darmody grew up in Sutton on the outskirts of Canberra before he moved to Laura in Queensland.
