Australian authorities fear an 18-foot crocodile they describe as “shy” may have taken a camper from a riverside site in North Queensland, the Australian Associated Press reported Tuesday.
Arthur Booker, 62, who was on a two-day vacation with his wife, went to check a craypot at the Endeavour River Escape campsite around 8:30 a.m. He never returned.
Booker’s wife told AAP that when she went to check the site she found a snapped rope, large crocodile slide marks and her husband’s new video camera.
Endeavour River Escape employee Terry Rayner told local media there was no sign of Booker anywhere.
He added that he was afraid the crocodile, named “Charlie,” was responsible.
"He's been missing for quite a long time now, it's not looking good," he said. "He lives there. That's his territory. He's the alpha male there," he added of the crocodile.
He also mentioned that Charlie is normally “pretty docile and pretty shy.”
State Emergency Service and rangers joined police in their search for Booker at low tide Tuesday, AAP reported.
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