Body parts of missing US diver Colleen Monfore found in tiger shark in Indonesia

Colleen Monfore went missing on a diving trip with six friends and a tour guide near Pulau Reong.

A missing woman’s body parts have been found inside a tiger shark’s stomach two weeks after she disappeared in Indonesia.

Colleen Monfore was on a diving trip with six friends and a tour guide near Pulau Reong – a small island in the Alor Archipelago of central Indonesia, renowned for its scuba spots – when she failed to resurface on September 26.

Rescue teams looked for the 68-year-old, an experienced diver from South Dakota, for eight days before calling off the search due to concerns about dangerous sea conditions and a low chance of finding her body.

Two weeks later, after killing a shark because it was “in obvious distress”, a fisherman near neighbouring Timor-Leste found the remains of a woman, as well as her wetsuit and bathing suit, inside its stomach.

“The shark was caught but it was not in normal health. I thought it had swallowed plastic or a fishing net,” the fisherman told The Sun.

“It was cut open to find the problem, and inside there were the remains of a woman.”

Early reports suggested Monfore may have been attacked and eaten by the shark, but friends have since countered that she had probably died from a medical problem many days earlier.

“It has been a horrible two weeks,” Kim Sass, a friend, wrote on Facebook. “[Ms Monfore’s] body was found several days ago and the media is saying it was a shark attack. Evidence says this is false.”

According to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, it can take a shark several days to fully digest a meal, but during that process their stomach “produces an acid that is strong enough to dissolve metal”.

Sass said: “Colleen’s body was identifiable. Her fingerprints (again identifiable) are being used by our United States embassy and the local government for proof of death. This would not be possible if the shark had attacked her weeks ago.

“Colleen’s husband said she would [have] been heartsick to know a shark died because of her and that her death is giving sharks, once again, a bad name.”

Brendon Sing, a researcher and founder of Shark Guardian, said: “Sharks rarely would attack and kill an adult human being. Tiger sharks, especially, are often scavengers and prey on animals or species that are already dead, injured or weakened in some way”.