Andrew Heard, 69, went out on Thursday to fish near Hinchinbrook Island, but did not return, according to Queensland police.
Investigators have since found human remains in the area and in a 4-meter crocodile, police said on Sunday.
“At this stage, we can only confirm that we have found human remains in the first,” said Acting Inspector Andrew Cowie of Queensland Police at a news conference on Monday, explaining that the investigation process of the second crocodile has not been completed.
Both animals were found in the area where Heard was reportedly fishing, Cowie said, and the characteristics of the second crocodile are consistent with its involvement in the incident.
“I believe we got the two crocodiles involved,” he said.
Police found a small vessel with quite significant damage, Cowie said, adding that the investigation will now be turned over to the coroner.
“This is a tragic incident,” he said, calling on people to be alert.
“It is very important that people are always aware of their circumstances,” he said. “All over the north … when you’re in the bush you have snakes and when you’re on the water you have crocodiles.”
Cowie underlined that people should take precautions.
“Always make sure you tell people where you are going, always have the right safety equipment, always make sure you can get to that safety equipment quickly if you need to,” he said. “Please be very careful.”
Another fisherman told CNN partner 7News of his collision with a large crocodile in the same area where Heard went missing.
“It would have been the length of my boat,” Luke Nation told 7NEWS, adding that the four-foot-long crocodile had bumped into the hull of his ship. ‘It scared us. He definitely gave us our marching orders, I think. ”
According to 7News, this is the third crocodile attack in Queensland this month, after swimmers in Cairns and Weipa survived their encounters.
Crocodile attacks are rare in Australia, but Queensland officials are running a public safety campaign to warn residents of the risks of swimming or relaxing near crocodile-infested waters.
In 2019, a Queensland fisherman narrowly escaped an attack by stabbing a crocodile in the eye.
In September 2020, a huge 14-foot crocodile was captured at a tourist spot in the adjacent Northern Territory.