Human remains have been found by police searching for a 12-year-old child who went missing after reportedly being attacked by a crocodile in Australia.
Northern Territory Police previously confirmed the child had gone missing at around 5:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, July 2 after she was last seen swimming at Mango Creek near the remote community of Palumpa, around 220 miles south west of Darwin.
On Thursday, July 4, the Australian authorities said they had “located remains near Palumpa believed to be that of a missing 12-year-old child,” per a message shared on the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services Facebook page.
“The child was reportedly attacked by a crocodile in Mango Creek on Tuesday 2 July 2024. An extensive search effort was mounted in an effort to locate the child,” the media release added.
“This is devastating news for the family, the community and everyone involved in the search,” Senior Sergeant Erica Gibson said, per the release.
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“Police are providing support to the family and community, along with the first responders who attended the scene,” Gibson added.
“The recovery has been made. It was particularly gruesome and a sad, devastating outcome,” the officer also told reporters, per the Associated Press.
The outlet stated Gibson said the child’s injuries confirmed a crocodile attack. Authorities searched for 36 hours to find the missing girl who hasn’t so far been named, per AP.
Gibson previously told ABC Radio Darwin that the family was swimming at the creek as part of bush holidays near the town of Wadeye. Formerly known as Port Keats, the remote location is home to one of Australia’s largest indigenous communities and has a population of around 2,000 people.
“They had attended the area, as they do for their holidays on homelands,” she said, per ABC News Australia.
Gibson added that the Mango Creek waterway was “narrow, but long and winding.”
“The depths vary, it’s deep and dark in places,” Gibson said, per the outlet. “It’s surrounded by thick, dense pandanus, so the search is being conducted quite slowly… to check the area thoroughly.”
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Per the AP, authorities are continuing the search for the crocodile.
According to Australia’s Northern Territory website, the region is home to more than 100,000 crocodiles — the largest population of wild crocodiles in the world.
The Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.
