The remains of a father of three who went missing last month have been found inside the stomach of a shark, according to reports.
Diego Barría, 32, was last seen riding his all-terrain vehicle on the beach in the southern Chubut province in Patagonian Argentina shortly before midnight on Feb. 18. He stopped to meet with fishing friends. Barría told his wife that he was running late, but would be home soon. However, Barría never returned text messages and phone calls to his wife. His wife reported her husband missing after not hearing from him.
Two days later, Barría’s ATV was found wrecked on a beach near Rocas Coloradas. Following a thorough search that included divers and dogs that lasted over 40 hours, there were no signs of Barría near the damaged ATV. Police only found his helmet that had been split in two after an intense impact.
Eight days after Barría’s disappearance, two fishermen reportedly found human remains in the stomach of a shark caught not far from where Barría’s ATV was found. The fishermen caught three school sharks. Human remains were found inside the stomach of a 5-foot school shark.
The human remains included a forearm, which had a tattoo of a green and red rose. The fishermen took the forearm to the police.
Barría’s family was able to identify the missing father of three through the tattoo.
Upon hearing of the news, Barría’s wife Virginia Brugger wrote on Facebook, “My heart went with you! I love you forever.”
Because of the smaller size of the shark, authorities don’t believe that Barría died from a typical shark attack in the ocean.
Cristian Ansaldo — the police superintendent in the city of Comodoro Rivadavia — said, “One of the strongest hypotheses is that [Barría] collided with a rock [while driving the ATV] and that his body was carried away by the sea, but we are going to handle all the possible theories with the evidence found at the site. The vehicle will be analyzed to establish how the accident happened, because the vehicle was found further towards the coast, but it could have been moved there by the waves.”
Ansaldo noted that there had been a strong tidal surge during the weekend when Barría disappeared.
The police said that a DNA test would be conducted to verify the identity.
“We and the prosecutor’s office need to carry it out scientifically,” Ansaldo said.
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