Missing Argentinian man found inside shark

Diego Barria, 32, who went missing earlier this month, has been found inside a shark.  

DNA testing did confirm that the body found inside the shark was Barria, however his family were able to make a positive identification “due to a tattoo that appeared in one of those remains.”

Barria had last been seen earlier in the morning riding an all-terrain vehicle near southern Chubut province, which is on the south coast of Argentina, on 18 February.

His vehicle was found abandoned two days after the last sighting of him.

Two fishermen notified the coastguard early on Sunday morning that they had caught three school sharks close to where Barria’s vehicle had been spotted.

Officer Daniela Millatruz, who was in charge of the search for Barria, told local media that the fishermen had said “when they were cleaning (the sharks) they found human remains in one of them”.

Police Superintendent Christian Ansaldo said that there would be an investigation and that “We and the prosecutor’s office need to carry it out scientifically.”

Ansaldo said that he wants to ascertain why Barria went into the water and how it came about that he was eaten by a shark.

“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 hypotheses with the evidence found at the site,” said the commissioner. “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 by the waves”, he added.

“My heart went with you! I love you forever,” Barria’s wife wrote on social media.  

Barria is survived by his wife and three children.