Overview
- Police tracked a large, unusually still crocodile near the Komati River search area using drones and a helicopter, then secured permission to shoot it and airlift it out.
- A police diver, Captain Johan “Pottie” Potgieter, was lowered from a helicopter to fasten a harness on the animal so it could be lifted to a safe site for examination.
- A field necropsy recovered two severed arms, part of a rib cage and chest tissue, and a ring believed to be the missing man’s, according to South African police.
- Forensic teams are testing the remains to confirm whether they are those of 59-year-old hotel owner Gabriel Batista, who was swept away after attempting to cross a flooded low-level bridge.
- Investigators also found at least six pairs of shoes inside the crocodile, prompting checks against missing-person reports and underscoring the risks of flood crossings in Nile crocodile habitat.