After a woman went missing during a diving excursion in Indonesia, her loved ones were shocked to discover the harrowing details of her death.
In September Colleen Monfore, from Holland, Michigan, was on vacation in the popular Southeast Asian location with her friends when they decided to go on a diving excursion to explore the waters around Pulau Reong island.
However, before the end of the dive, the 68-year-old suddenly got separated from the group and was reported as missing on September 26.
But what authorities discovered two weeks later still haunts her family and friends to this day.
Speaking to the New York Post, Rick Sass, a friend close to the family recalled the moment they found out that Colleen's body had been consumed by a shark.
Two fishermen had caught the shark over 70 miles away from the location where the victim initially went missing, and upon cutting it open, discovered partly-digested human remains in the stomach of the beast.
The body was still dressed in a wetsuit when it was discovered and after further investigation, the authorities managed to use DNA evidence to link the identity back to Colleen and notify her loved ones.
When they initially caught the wild animal, the fishermen believed the shark was "not in normal health."
"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, as well as Colleen's husband Mike, stated that they believed she had suffered from a "medical issue" as she was approximately 24 feet below the water and "probably had half a tank of air left."
Rick, who has owned a dive shop with his wife Kim, brands himself somewhat of an expert in this field, using what he knows from shark attacks to come to the conclusion that his friend suffered from a medical issue rather than be the victim of an ambush.
The shark must have mistaken her for a dead fish when it ate her, he added.
While it is unclear whether Colleen had any medical issues prior to the dive, her friends and family members are convinced the shark had not been the thing that initially killed her.
"We do not believe this was a shark attack. Mike thinks she suffered some kind of medical issue in the water," Rick emphasized to The Post.
The pair allegedly also examined photos from the dive spoke with Mike, and reviewed data from the dive computer, which backed up their point.
"There was a down current at the turnaround site, but it was manageable,” Kim wrote in a Facebook post discussing the ordeal. “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."
Other clues like the fact that Colleen's body was "identifiable", which would have not been possible if a shark had attacked her, and the fact that she had swam with a handful of other types of sharks before and loved them, led them to believe Colleen had suffered from a medical issue.
This has not yet been officially confirmed though.
Rick also 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."
Mike and his late wife bonded over their love for the sea when they first met in high school. The pair had two children and, eventually, four grandchildren, but they never gave up their love for diving in the deep.
"They were both retired and really enjoying life," Rick said of the couple. "We used to call her ‘Saint Colleen.’ She was an amazing woman. She loved nature and animals. I know she would have never wanted a shark to be blamed for this tragedy."
After finding out about his late wife's death, Mike has reportedly been struggling to come to terms with the tragic news.
"He’s hardly been sleeping at all, partly because he’s up on the phone with Indonesia, which is a 12-hour time difference," Rick recalled. "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."
The Indonesian authorities are currently investigating the incident further while Colleen's loved ones wait for more details.
Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time.
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