Torn pants match shark jaw, but raise questions: Expert
The torn three-quarter denim pants, belonging to missing Nukuni villager, Eliki Yaco Junior, matched the jaw of a shark.
This was revealed by the Head of School of Marine Studies at the University of the South Pacific, Professor Ciro Rico. He was requested to analyse the pants recovered from the Ono-i-Lau waters. Professor Rico had the opportunity to look at the pants on Thursday.
Mr Yaco, who was affectionately known as Tua, was reported missing on May 31, 2020. He had gone to transport a couple from Mana island back to Nukuni Village on Onoi-Lau. The couple claimed that Tua was bitten by a shark, after they stopped for a swim.
The third search party on the morning of Monday, June 1, 2020, found Tua’s pants underwater, with the front side near the pocket of the pants torn.
Professor Rico said: “What does not make sense is that the mark of the shark jaw was only on one side of the pants and not the other.
“When sharks bite something, it will leave a distinctive, round half-moon shape, on both sides.”
He said: “Police will be travelling to Ono-i-Lau to find out more about the recovery of the clothes and whether there was blood visible on them.”
Professor Rico said tiger sharks were commonly sighted in Fiji.
“So often, shark attacks occur by mistake, the shark comes to perceive the electromagnetic fields that a person emits and the movement when swimming, and out of curiosity, they might initially take a small bite to test what is that, and very often they won’t follow up with the attack, because it’s not a taste that they are used to,” he said.
“Unfortunately for a swimmer, a small bite of a large shark may be fatal, so we have to recognise that sharks are predators and they live in the ocean, and that we are entering their territory when we swim or dive into the ocean.
“But there is a small probability of encountering a shark that will follow up into the attack.”
Professor Rico said when a deceased was thrown into the water, once the body decomposed, it would release body fluids and blood, and the smell would attract all sorts of predators, not only sharks.
He added it’s impossible for a shark to remove a person’s clothes.
“It’s either the person entered the water without clothes and left them there to float, or something else killed that person and removed the clothes.”
A Father’s Plea
Tua’s father, Eliki Yaco Snr, said they desperately wanted answers.
“My family has accepted what has happened to Tua, but it took time for us to digest how he had mysteriously gone missing.
“It’s been three to four months now and there hasn’t been any update on the case. All I’m doing now is calling the CID asking for an update to the case. All his clothes that were recovered are with Police.”
Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro confirmed investigations were ongoing and are being conducted by the CID (Criminal Investigation Department).