Crocodile ‘may have eaten dad’
New clue in manhunt
Published:
REMAINS have been found in the stomach of a crocodile suspected of eating a North-east man.
Arthur Booker disappeared during a camping trip in Australia after going to check on crab pots.
The Banffshire-born man went missing from the banks of the Endeavour River while on holiday in Queensland from his Brisbane home with wife Doris.
She raised the alarm after finding the 62-year-old’s new video camera, snapped rope and crocodile claw marks on sandals in the mud.
Authorities have trapped three crocodiles and found what appears to be human remains in one.
Police told the Environmental Protection Agency no more of the reptiles needed to be caught, suggesting they had the animal responsible.
One of the animals, a female, was ruled out as the killer. An aggressive male measuring 14ft (4.3m) was also to be released but, due to his temperament, will not be returned to the river.
There was no information on the third animal.
Further tests were being carried out to discover if the remains were human.
And Terry Rayner, the owner of camping and outdoor activities firm Endeavour River Escapes, spoke out against claims the camper behaved foolishly.
He said: “He wasn’t up there taking risks, he was very smart.”
And he also suggested other likely reasons for Mr Booker’s disappearance.
He said Mr Booker could have taken ill and fallen into the water or a bull shark could have been responsible.
The Vietnam War veteran, who was born in Macduff, moved to Australia with his family when he was a boy in the early 1950s.
