Body of 12-year-old girl missing after crocodile attack in Australia found

July 4 (UPI) — The remains of a missing 12-year-old Australian girl, believed to have been the victim of a crocodile attack, were found Thursday, authorities confirmed.

A police official said the girl's T-shirt was discovered upstream at around 6.15pm local time on Wednesday and her remains were found in a Northern Territory waterway on Thursday morning.

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“It was particularly horrific and a sad and devastating outcome,” NT Police Senior Sergeant Erica Gibson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Palumpa.

Although attacks are not common in this part of the country, the girl, whose name has not been released, was last seen on Tuesday local time in Australia's Northern Territory, which is estimated to have more saltwater crocodiles than any other place on Earth – 100,000. She was swimming with family members at Mango Creek in Palumpa during a bush holiday near the remote Aboriginal town of Nganmarriyanga, about a seven-hour drive southwest of Darwin in one of Australia's northernmost regions.

Gibson confirmed the girl's injuries were consistent with a crocodile attack. “It has been an extremely difficult 36 hours for the first responders involved in the search,” she said, adding that the grieving family was “in a state of extreme shock and disbelief.”

The girl's disappearance was reported to Australian police at 5:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

According to witnesses, a black crocodile was spotted in the area. But no details have been given as to whether the suspected reptile has been identified or located.

About 40 members of the public reportedly assisted 10 police officers in a search by foot, boat and air along the “narrow but long and winding” banks of Mango Creek.

It is now the first fatal attack in the Northern Territory since 2018, according to reports.

While Queensland has seen a number of fatal crocodile attacks in recent years, at least two crocodile attacks were reported in the Northern Territory last year.

A leading Australian crocodile researcher has suggested a good response from the territorial government would be to fund local Aboriginal groups in remote communities like the one where the girl is believed to have fallen victim to the reptile in question.

Meanwhile, the territory's chief minister says there is “always more to do when it comes to crocodile safety” as she said the latest Northern Territory budget included $500,000 for crocodile management efforts.

“We cannot let the crocodile population outstrip the human population in the Northern Territory,” Chief Minister Eva Lawler said. “We must keep crocodile numbers under control.”