skip to main content

Remains of missing Argentinian man found in shark

Pieces of 'skin, fat and human flesh' were found inside a school shark near the town of Comodoro Rivadavia (stock image)
Pieces of 'skin, fat and human flesh' were found inside a school shark near the town of Comodoro Rivadavia (stock image)

Two fishermen found the remains of an Argentinian man who mysteriously disappeared ten days ago inside a shark they caught, investigators said.

Diego Barria, a 32-year-old oil industry employee who disappeared on 18 February, was identified by a forearm tattoo.

Two fishermen caught three school sharks which are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, near the town of Comodoro Rivadavia, around 1,500km south of Buenos Aires.

The day Mr Barria disappeared, he had gone out to ride his quad bike.

He was seen close to midnight heading home but never arrived.

Two days later, his destroyed quad bike and helmet were found in a nearby coastal area, but with no sign of him.

Regional police chief Cristian Ansaldo said there was no firm theory about how he died but that he likely could have crashed into rocks and was swept away by the sea.

When the fishermen cut open the sharks to remove their entrails, they found pieces of "skin, fat and human flesh" inside one, said police.

Authorities also released an audio recording in which one of the fishermen told a cousin about his find.

"I has such bad luck that I found him (Barria) inside a shark," he said.

"I went fishing and I opened up the shark's belly and I found a forearm with a tattoo."

Mr Barria was identified by the tattoo of a rose alongside the name Josefina.

School sharks grow to only 1.5m and mostly eat fish and molluscs.

Daniela Millatruz, head of the local missing person's division, said the navy was taking part in the search for the rest of Mr Barria's body.