The search for a missing fisherman has been called off after police found human remains in a shot crocodile.
Kevin Darmody, 65, was fishing along the banks of the Kennedy River in Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park, in remote Far North Queensland, at 3:30pm Saturday.
Nearby campers recalled hearing screams and frantic splashes of fear. Mr. Darmody was taken by a crocodile.
Crews, including the police diving squad, continued their search for the 65-year-old on Tuesday but were unable to locate him.
Conservationists from the Department of Environment and Science (DES) found two crocodiles, believed to be involved in the attack, upstream from where Mr Darmody was last seen.
The search for missing fisherman Kevin Darmody (pictured) has been called off after police found human remains in one of two euthanized crocodiles
Mr. Darmody was fishing on the banks of the Kennedy River in Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park (pictured) when he disappeared (pictured, the area where Mr. Darmody was last seen alive)
Authorities performed an autopsy – a post-mortem examination of an animal – on the two reptiles measuring 4.1 meters and 2.8 meters on Tuesday afternoon.
Human remains were found in one of the two crocodiles, with police believing the remains to be those of the missing fisherman pending a formal identification process.
Search and rescue operations in Lakefield have been suspended at this time.
The police are now drawing up a report for the corner.
The suspected attack has led to calls for changes in how Queensland manages the reptiles.
Queensland Australian party leader Robbie Katter believes the animals are spreading into waterways previously believed to be crocodile-free.
Mr Katter claimed there is no alternative but to cull crocodiles as the territorial predators move up the river system and overtake the waterways.
“My immediate response and it sounds a bit blunt, but how about dumping them in your river and seeing how you can live with them,” Mr Katter said on Monday.
“I take my family to the Gregory River and we swim there because there are no crocodiles, but they are coming up the Gregory now.
“At Lake Placid, where I swam as a child, you’re not allowed to swim there anymore.”
Animal protection officers performed an autopsy on the two reptiles, measuring 4.1 meters and 2.8 meters long, believed to be involved in the attack. Human remains were found in one of the crocodiles
Queensland MP Robbie Katter (pictured) is urging the state government to enact a crocodile cull as a 65-year-old man is feared to have died after being grabbed by a crocodile while fishing
In the 1970s, estuarine (saltwater) crocodiles were hunted to near extinction and as a result were classified as a vulnerable species under the 1992 Wildlife Conservation Act.
The Government of Queensland has a statewide crocodile management program that ensures public safety while enabling the survival of wild crocodiles.
Problem crocodiles are removed from the wild according to Queensland’s management plan.
Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park, where a crocodile is believed to have snatched Mr Darmody, is one of only six major saltwater crocodile conservation areas in Queensland.
Mr Darmody, a publican in the rural town of Laura – about 75km from where he disappeared – was an avid fisherman who regularly documented his fishing trips on social media.
Friends said Mr. Darmody, who was also known as ‘Stumpy’, had a thorough knowledge of fishing in dangerous waters and was aware of the risks involved.
“He was not a tourist or visitor to Cape York, he is or was a local, he knew the dangers, just bloody bad luck – in a split second you can be taken by a crocodile,” one person wrote.
The avid fisherman regularly documented his fishing trips on social media, with his most recent post, dating back to 2015, featuring a series of photos of a mauling crocodile.
Tributes poured in for Mr Darmody, who ran the Peninsula Hotel in Laura, with some describing him as a ‘damn top bloke’ and a ‘legend’.
Friends said Mr. Darmody (pictured), also known as ‘Stumpy’, had a thorough knowledge of fishing in dangerous waters and was aware of the risks
His most recent Facebook post (pictured) was a series of photos of a crocodile tearing up what looks like a smaller, young crocodile in a stretch of river he said was a friend’s favorite fishing hole
Bart Harrison, from Cooktown, said his friend was nearby when Mr. Darmody disappeared.
“A boy came on the road and yelled ‘he’s gone, he’s gone’ and my mate ran down the bank and said the water was all agitated and dirty, you could tell something bad had happened ,” said Mr. Harrison The Cairns Post.
‘He was there fishing a few minutes earlier, then he was gone, his strings were on the bank,’ Mr Harrison added.
‘He’d lived here since I was a kid, been in the pub for a long time, went fishing a lot. He knew the river quite well, it’s really sad.’