Human remains found at Mossman Gorge: Tibia discovered at swimming hole could belong to woman who disappeared in January
- Human leg bone found in popular swimming hole
- A tourist discovered human remains on a torn bed
- Comes eight months after the swimmer disappeared
- A Victorian woman, 54, was swept away in January
An investigation has been launched after human remains were discovered in a popular swimming hole eight months after a woman went missing.
A tourist stumbled upon the human tibia last week on a riverbed near Mossman Gorge, 20 kilometers north of Port Douglas, in far north Queensland.
Police divers were able to recover the remains, which were later confirmed to be a human leg bone by a forensic anthropologist.
The discovery comes eight months after a 54-year-old Victorian woman was swept into the Mossman River on Jan. 6.
After the woman was brought downstream and disappeared under water in bad weather, a major search was launched.
An investigation has been launched after human remains were discovered in a popular swimming hole, eight months after a woman went missing (pictured, Mossman Gorge)
A tourist stumbled upon the human shin bone on a riverbed near Mossman Gorge, 20 km north of Port Douglas, in far north Queensland, last week
Police divers and the SES searched for six days before the investigation was scaled back and became a recovery mission.
Mossman Police Officer-in-Charge Sergeant Matthew Smith said “tumultuous water” was pouring down the canyon when the woman went missing.
He said the combination of inclement weather, water pressure and deep crevasses and pockets caused the swimmer to potentially become trapped under a rock.
“We obviously hope that a particular bot can lead us to answers regarding the missing person in January, who was swept through the Mossman Gorge and was never seen or resurfaced,” he told local media on Monday.
“We always waited for time and a change in weather conditions so we could hopefully find some of her remains.”
Sergeant Smith said police would return to the scene to search for more human remains and test the bone to confirm their suspected identities.
The discovery comes eight months after a 54-year-old Victorian woman was swept into the Mossman River (pictured is Mossman Gorge in Daintree National Park) on Jan. 6.
“Hopefully, if we can find any more remains, because of the time frame, we’ll have a better chance of getting a positive DNA test,” he said.
“We are hopeful that this may lead to some closure of her family, but at this stage we need to do quite a bit of forensic DNA testing to confirm that.”
In January, the popular swimming spot was believed to have been hit by rain that raised water levels and may have been hit by a flash flood.
Divers will return to the scene on Tuesday, Queensland Police said in a statement.
Mossman Gorge, in the Daintree National Park, remains open to the public.