Andrew Heard, 69, went fishing near Hinchinbrook Island on Thursday, but according to Queensland police, he did not return.
Investigators have since found human remains in the area and inside a 13.8-foot crocodile, police said Sunday.
“At this stage we can only confirm that we found human remains in the first phase,” Acting Inspector Andrew Cowie of Queensland Police said at a news conference on Monday, explaining that the investigation process has not yet been completed on the second crocodile. .
Both animals were found in the area where Heard presumably fished, Cowie said, and the characteristics of the second crocodile matched the involvement.
“I believe we involved the two crocodiles,” he said.
Police found a small vessel with significant damage, Cowie said. The investigation will now be handed over to the coroner.
“This is a tragic incident,” he said, calling on people to be vigilant.
“It is very important that people are always aware of their circumstances,” he said. “Everywhere in the north … if you’re in the woods, you have snakes and if you’re on the water, you have crocodiles.”
Cowie stressed that people need to take precautions.
“Always make sure you tell people where you are going, always make sure you have appropriate safety equipment, always make sure you are able to get to that safety equipment, in a hurry,” he said. “Please be very careful.”
Another fisherman told CNN subsidiary 7News about his run-in with a large crocodile in the same area where Heard went missing.
“He would have been the length of my boat,” Luke Nation told 7NEWS, adding that the 15-foot crocodile bumped the hull of his vessel. “It scared us. I definitely gave our marching orders. ‘
According to 7News, this is the third crocodile attack in Queensland this month after swimmers in Cairns and Weipa survived their encounters.
Crocodile attacks are rare in Australia, but Queensland officials are conducting a public safety campaign to alert residents to the risks of swimming or relaxing in the waters with crocodiles.
In 2019, a Queensland fisherman escaped an attack by stabbing a crocodile in the eye.
In September 2020, a massive 14-foot crocodile was caught at a tourist spot in the neighboring Northern Territory.