Colleen Monfore South Dakota diver likely died before eaten by shark according to her diving buddies, Rick and Kim Sass as the couple outlay compelling theory as to the avid deep sea diver’s eventual demise.
The family and friends of a South Dakota woman who has been identified as the individual found in the belly of a shark off the coasts of East Timor after being carried away by currents believe the diver may have died of a medical issue prior to being eaten by the shark.
Colleen Monfore, 68, a retired mom of two from Holland, Michigan, was enjoying her dream vacation — a seven-week diving tour with her husband, Mike — when tragedy struck on Sept. 26, family friend, Rick Sass said.
Just a few days into the trip, Monfore disappeared during a group dive around Pulau Reong island, north of Timor-Leste and off the coast of the Southwest Maluku Regency, Indonesia, after currents carried away despite efforts from tour leaders to reel her back to the boat.
‘We do not believe this was a shark attack…’
Rescue teams searched for eight days before finally giving up on October 3 due to the dangerous conditions at sea and the low chance of finding her.
Two weeks later, fishermen in Timor-Leste caught the shark — and cut human remains out of its belly more than 70 miles from where she vanished, local media reported.
Authorities were able to ID Monfore from the body’s fingerprints, according to Sass, a longtime friend who has been in close contact with Monfore’s family.
Despite the find, Sass and his wife, Kim are adamant that Monfore, whom they described as an experienced deep-sea diver, was not killed by the shark.
‘We do not believe this was a shark attack. Mike thinks she suffered some kind of medical issue in the water,’ Sass told the nypost.
The couple — who ran a dive shop together for more than 40 years — examined photos from the dive, spoke with Mike at length about the incident and reviewed data from his dive computer.
The friends are adamant that Monfore, who Rick Sass said seems to have been separated from the group when rough waters forced them to turn around, was not killed by a shark. She was around 24 feet down and probably had half a tank of air left, he said.
Compelling theory as to turn of events
‘There was a down current at the turnaround site, but it was manageable,’ Kim Sass wrote in a Facebook post. ‘I’ve easily done 1000+ dive[s] with this gracious woman … I don’t believe it was the environment and certainly not a shark that ended her life.’
Added Kim Sass in more detail bolstering her theory that Monfore likely died days if not weeks prior to her body being devoured by the predator.
Rick Sass added: ‘They dove massive numbers of trips with us over 30 years. Bali, Philippines, Bikini Atoll, you name it.
‘She knew what she was doing.’
‘She loved nature and animals. I know she would have never wanted a shark to be blamed for this tragedy,’ Sass added.
He noted that shark attacks against divers are extremely rare.
How frequent are shark attacks against divers?
‘And sharks are not that way. We’ve dove with hammerheads, tiger sharks, bull sharks. You have to give them respect and be cautious, but they won’t just attack you.’
There were only 69 confirmed unprovoked shark bites worldwide last year, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, and 94% of those were on snorkelers, waders and surfers. The remaining 6% are categorized as ‘other.’
It’s not yet clear how exactly Colleen Monfore died. Grisly photos from the scene show the shark in question cut open — with human remains in a black wetsuit nearby.
‘The shark was caught but it was not in normal health. I thought it had swallowed plastic or a fishing net,’ the fisherman said, according to Asia Pacific Press. ‘It was cut open to find the problem and inside there were the remains of a woman.’
Rick Sass said her husband has been struggling not only with her death but bringing his wife’s remains back home.
‘He’s hardly been sleeping at all, partly because he’s up on the phone with Indonesia, which is a 12-hour time difference,’ he said. ‘He’s answering phone calls in the middle of the night, and talking to us during the day, and not just not being able to sleep because of this horrible thing that happened.’
Indonesian authorities said an investigation is underway.
