Fishermen find remains of missing man inside shark

ARGENTINA – The remains of a man who disappeared in southern Argentina appear to have been found inside a shark caught by local fishermen.

The family of Diego Barria, 32, identified his remains from a prominent tattoo, Daniela Millatrus, the law enforcement officer who led the search, told local media.

Barria was last seen off the coast in the southern province of Chubut on his all-terrain vehicle late on February 18.

The damaged ATV was found on February 20 on a beach near Rocas Coloradas, but there was no sign of Barria and an intense search began for the father of three.

Early Sunday morning, two fishermen went to the Coast Guard to report that they had caught three school sharks near where Barria’s ATV was, “and as they were cleaning them, they found human remains in one of them,” Millatrus said. .

Family members recognized Barria “because of the tattoo that appeared on one of these remains,” she added. Officials continue to investigate what exactly happened to Barria.

“We assume that Diego was in an accident,” Millatrus said, “and we are investigating whether a vehicle was involved in it.”

The remains will also be subjected to DNA testing to officially confirm that they belong to Barria, Cristian Ansaldo, head of the Comodoro Rivadavia police department, told local media.

According to Ansaldo, the school shark, in which human remains were found, measured about 1.5 meters.

The most likely hypothesis that investigators are currently working on is that Barria “had an accident and was dragged along,” Ansaldo said, noting that there was a high tide on the weekend he disappeared.

“My heart was with you! I love you forever,” Virginia Brugger, who has been identified as Barria’s partner and posted search updates on social media, wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

The Associated Press Information Services helped contribute to this report.