Police searching for missing man in Australia find remains inside crocodile

Police say the search for a man missing for several days in Australia has come to a “tragic end” after his remains were found inside a crocodile.

Kevin Darmody, 65, was reported missing Saturday after he went out fishing with friends.

He was last seen on the banks of the Kennedy River, which is infested with saltwater crocodiles, in Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park in a remote part of north Queensland.

Police zeroed in on two large crocodiles in the river after two days of searching without results.

The two crocodiles were shot to death 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 died as both were believed to be involved in the attack.

The two crocodiles, measuring 4.1 m (13.4 ft) and 2.8 m long, were located upriver from where the man disappeared in the park.

The remains found inside the reptile have yet to be identified, but police have finished 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 did not believe the crocodile came out of the water to grab Darmody, and speculated that a monitor lizard might have knocked it off balance and into the river.

“I heard Kev roar about three times and I tried to look down to see what was going on,” Peiti said. Cape York Weekly.

“The next minute I heard a big splash and ran down. I estimate that it only took me half a minute to get to where he had been, but there was no sign of him, just his leashes on the shore and nothing else.

“I think Kev might have been roaring at this goanna and maybe he lost his balance and went (into the water),” Peiti said. “That’s the only explanation I can think of.”

Darmody grew up in Sutton on the outskirts of Canberra before moving to Laura in Queensland.