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Missing man's remains found in shark's belly, but it's 'very very unlikely' the shark killed him
By Harry Baker published about 13 hours ago
The remains of a missing person from Argentina were recently found inside the belly of a dead school shark. But experts say it is improbable that the shark killed him.
A close-up of a sleeper shark (Galeorhinus galeus). (Image credit: D Ross Robertson/Smithsonian Institute)
The remains of a missing person in Argentina were recently recovered from the belly of a dead shark. The shark had been caught by fishers near where the man went missing, leading to speculation in the media that the shark may have killed him. But shark experts and police suspect that the man was already dead before the shark ate him.
Diego Barría, a 32-year-old man who lived in the Patagonian province of Chubut, was last seen on Feb. 18, Spanish news site El País(opens in new tab) reported. Around four days later, local police found Barría's damaged all-terrain vehicle (ATV) along with his helmet, which had been cracked in two, on a nearby beach. But there was no body, which only added to the mystery surrounding the missing man's whereabouts.
But on Feb. 26, local fishers caught three school sharks (Galeorhinus galeus), also known as tope or soupfin sharks, near the beach. When the fishers were gutting the sharks, they found a human forearm, as well as other suspect human remains, in the belly of one of the sharks. The fishers turned the remains over to police, who identified a specific tattoo on the wrist of the forearm that matched one of Barría's tattoos, according to El País. A DNA test will now be carried out to definitively prove that the remains belong to Barría.
However, it is unlikely that the shark killed Barría. Instead, the police suspect that Barría likely died after colliding with a rock while driving the ATV and that his body was washed out to sea, where it was partially eaten by the shark.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/missing-mans-remains-found-in-sharks-belly-but-its-very-very-unlikely-the-shark-killed-him