A MISSING hotel boss swept away in raging floodwaters has been found dead inside a massive monster crocodile after cops named it their “prime suspect”.
Police spent four days flying a drone over the man-eating croc before shooting it dead and airlifting it off the predator-riddled island to check out their hunch.
Cops airlifted the massive 15ft predator out of the croc-infested river Credit: Suburbancontrolcentre/Facebook
A man holds the bullet cartridge which shot down the killer croc Credit: Suburbancentralcentre/Facebook
Incredible footage showed a brave commander hauled hundreds of feet up into the air to retrieve the carcass.
When the half-ton carnivore was lowered down to the ground in the nearby Kruger National Park its belly was sliced open to see if the huge beast did indeed eat the missing businessman.
The field necropsy carried out by South African Police Captain Joey Potgieter led to the macabre discovery of two severed arms with hands still attached, half a rib cage and chest flesh.
A ring believed to belong to missing businessman Gabriel Batista, 59, was also said to have been found on one of the fingers.
checks to confirm the corpse’s identity are now being carried out.
However, in a sickening twist, police investigating the incident at the town of Komatipoort in Mpumalanga Province found a further six pairs of shoes inside the crocodile’s stomach.
None of the shoes belonged to victim Gabriel Batista leading to fears that the crocodile was a rogue maneater that had killed or eaten many drowning victims in the river over recent years.
Crocodiles cannot digest plastic according to wildlife experts hence the remains of the shoes including flip flops, sandals, Nike trainers and high heels being found inside its body.
The deadly beast was cut open to reveal the grisly remains of his latest victim Credit: South African Police Service
Wildlife ranger Captain Johan “Pottie” Potgieter was lowered to the crocodile corpse before being attached to a harness and lifted out Credit: Suburbancontrolcentre/Facebook
A full has been launched to try and link the shoes to missing local residents or villagers who use the often flooded bridge and had been swept away.
The horror accident unfolded last Monday when businessman Batista tried to drive over a flooded low level bridge to reach his hotel and bar on the other side.
But the vicious currents pushed his 4×4 Ranger over the side and onto rocks and the businessman is believed to have climbed out of the vehicle to try and wade to safety.
But police suspect the strength of the water washed him off his feet and down the Komati River towards the nearby border with Mozambique and the hungry crocodiles.
Police and wildlife said dozens of the fearsome carnivores use the muddy islands in the river and the sandy banks to lie in wait for prey swept downstream.
It is not known if Batista drowned before being eaten by the crocodile.
It is therefore possible that his remains are also inside several other roaming crocs.
The victim owned the Border Country Inn and sports bar just a short drive from the regularly flooded bridge and 3 miles from the world-famous Kruger National Park.
A Nile crocodile similar to the one that ingested the corpse of hotel boss Gabriel Batista. Credit: Ankur Dutta/Unsplash
The carcass of the crocodile was carved open to find the semi-digested corpse of the suspected businessman Batista. Credit: South African Police Services
A spokesman said: “Gabriel was a lovely guy and a family man who was married with lots of kids and he spent a lot of time up here and customers loved him.
“He lived in Johannesburg but owned this guest house and bar and spent a lot of time here and was on his way to work on Monday when he was just swept away.
“The famiy do not want to say anything until the DNA results have been done. It is just terrible and his wife has been here every day with the police diving team.
“It is a nightmare but at the moment there is no family comment” she said.
The bravery of the police dive team commander Captain Johan “Pottie” Potgieter has been hailed after he volunteered to be airlifted in to retrieve the shot-dead croc.
His team suspected that Batista had been eaten and sent up a drone on Tuesday and monitored the activity of the resident crocodiles on the mudbank islands.
Captain Potgieter said: “My dive team have been recovering bodies from local rivers in this part of South Africa for a long time so we know the behaviour or crocodiles.
“From a drone we studied a number of crocodiles on an island 60m from the bridge and we identified one particular croc we were 100% certain had eaten the man.
“This very large one was not moving in the sun and showed typical signs of recent feeding as it has a massively full tummy and stayed out of the nearby water.
“He made no effort to move despite the noise of the drones or our chopper overhead or any inclination to seek out food so we were sure it was this crocodile” he said.
Permission had to be sought to euthanise the crocodile which was given on Saturday and he was killed with a single shot from a marksman on the police helicopter.
The next task was to recover the predator from the crocodile infested island.
Croc victim Gabriel Batista, 59, was swept away downriver in his Ford Ranger truck. Credit: Nhlamulo Mabasa SABC News/Facebook
The beast was hauled in after cops suspected he had eaten the missing businessman. Credit: Suburbancontrolcentre/Facebook
Captain Potgieter said: “I got the job and was put into a harness and the noise of the gunshot and the helicopter that lowered me down scattered the other crocodiles.
“There was so many things that could go wrong and the rope basically lowered me onto the snout of the crocodile so I was kind of hoping it really was properly dead!
“There were two crocs nearby watching as I slipped the harness around the waist of the dead crocodile and secured it under the front legs and tightened the strap.
“Then I signalled to the chopper and it just took me straight up leaving a lot of big crocodiles behind and then we flew to a landing zone to open the croc up” he said.
His police service wife Captain Joey Potgieter opened up the dead crocodile.
Captain Johan Potgieter said: “I don’t want to go into too much detail but there was enough inside the stomach to lead us to believe the crocodile ate man.
“But we will have to wait until the DNA results come back to confirm it” he said.
Lieut General Puleng Dimpane, acting National Police Commissioner, commended the extraordinary bravery and selflessness displayed by Captain Potgieter.
She said: “His willingness to place his own life in danger is going far beyond the call of duty to try and bring some form of closure to the family and shows great bravery.
“It reflects the unwavering commitment of South African Police members to do the right thing even in the face of a danger that could have cost him his very life”.
The Nile crocodile is amongst Africa’s most feared predators and has one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom which has 8 times of the force of the Great White Shark.
They kill 1000 people a year in Africa and grow up to 20ft long and weight up to 1500lbs and can run at 22mph and are no match for a human and few are lucky to escape their attack.
They feed mainly on fish but can easily take down buffalo, antelope, young hippo and young elephants and have 64 to 68 teeth up to five inches long to grip and hold onto their prey.
Busi Chafuza said on Facebook: “Killing the crocodile is not going to bring this man back but the family will be able to bury their loved one with dignity and will have a grave for him”.
Deep McCent said: “Sadly the crocodile had to die as once it was considered a man-eater it becomes very dangerous because it loses their fear of humans and sees them as prey”.
Sikes Mosime said: “We all die different but imagine trying to swim to safety after your car gets swept away by water and all of a sudden a big lizard pounces and that is the end”.
Drones spied on the killer crocodile for two days before cops pounced on the unsuspecting beast Credit: South African Police Services
South African Police Captain Johan “Pottie” Potgieter was lowered onto the crocodile infested island to fetch the deadly predator Credit: The Citizen/Archive
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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