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Missing US citizen found inside shark's stomach in Timor-Leste
The remains of United States citizen Carol Colleen Monfore were found in a shark’s stomach in Timor-Leste, 10 days after she had gone missing while diving in Southwest Maluku.
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Shark illustration. (Shutterstock/saulty72)
H
uman remains found by Timor-Leste fishermen inside a shark on Sunday have been identified as belonging to Carol Collen Monfore, a citizen of the United States who went missing over a week ago at the age of 68.
A video showing human body parts discovered in a shark's stomach in Liquica district, Timor Leste, went viral on social media.
Monfore had been missing for 10 days after disappearing while diving near Reong Island in Southwest Maluku regency, Maluku.
The regency shares a sea border with Timor-Leste.
"Yes, Monfore's body has indeed been found, but it is no longer intact, only in the form of body parts in the shark's stomach," the head of the Ambon office of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Muhamad Arafah, said on Wednesday, as reported by detik.com.
Monfore had been diving with her husband and friends on Sept. 26, when strong underwater currents swept her away, according to Wetar Police subprecinct chief Sec. Insp. Giovani BM Toffy.
“The dive was carried out when sea conditions were bad as a result of strong underwater currents, so it is suspected that the current swept away the victim," Giovani said on Friday, as quoted by kompas.com.
The search for Monfore lasted five days before being called off.
"We also directed residents to help with the search, but after five days, the victim was not found. We coordinated with Basarnas and the search operation was declared over," he said.
Monfore was on a trip to Banda Island with the other divers and decided to stop at Reong Island for a dive session.
Ten days later, her remains were found in the shark's stomach, approximately 112 kilometers from where she disappeared.
Authorities were able to identify Monfore through her fingerprints. Her husband has said he wishes to bring her remains home.
According to family friend Rick Sass, her husband has been struggling to sleep, juggling calls with Indonesian authorities across different time zones to handle the tragic event.
“He barely slept at all, partly because he was calling Indonesia, which has a 12-hour time difference,” Sass said.
