Missing US diver’s body found inside shark in Timor-Leste (2024)

Missing scuba diver’s body found inside shark – but her death was not the result of a shark attack

By Mark 'Crowley' Russell

The body of an American woman who went missing while diving in southern Indonesia has been found inside a shark landed by fishermen off the coast of Timor-Leste (East Timor).

The missing diver, who has been named as Colleen Monfore, 68, from South Dakota was diving with her husband, Mike, and six other friends around Pulau Reong, an island off the coast of Wetar Island in Indonesia’s Alor archipelago, part of the Alor Islands Marine Park

Reports say Monfore, a very experienced diver, was swept away by strong currents on the morning of 26 September. A search lasting eight days was mounted but was called off on 3 October due to worsening sea conditions.

On Sunday 6 October, a fisherman in neighbouring Timor-Leste, an island nation to the south of Maluku Province, caught a shark approximately 75 miles (120km) from Mrs Monfore’s last known location. The fisherman said that the shark was ‘in obvious distress’ before it was captured and killed.

‘The shark was caught but it was not in normal health,’ he told local reporters. ‘I thought it had swallowed plastic or a fishing net. It was cut open to find the problem and inside there were the remains of a woman.’

The species of shark has not been identified, but photographs in the media taken after the shark had been cut open suggest it is a tiger shark.

Muhammad Saleh Goro, Head of the Regional Technical Implementation Unit (UPTD) for the Management of the Alor Islands Marine Park and surrounding ocean, said at the time: ‘We have coordinated with the Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) in Dili, and the KBRI has confirmed the truth of this information.

‘The body of the woman was found in a shark in Timor Leste. It was not in Indonesian territory. We are now investigating the case further to confirm if they are the remains of anyone reported missing in Indonesia.

‘From the diving suit worn by the victim, it is suspected that they were a diver.The results of the investigation will be published soon after more complete information is available.The anecdotal reports from Timor Leste are that the victim in the shark was a foreign female.’

Reports suggest that Monfore has been identified from her fingerprints, and the friends diving with her are keen to stress that they do not think she was killed by the shark, as has been reported by some media outlets, but had instead suffered from a ‘medical issue’.

In a post on Facebook, Kim Sass, a longtime friend of Monfore’s wrote that ‘based on [her husband] Mike’s dive computer information, photos he took during the dive and testimonies from the other two divers and the dive master, we believe Colleen died of a medical issue.

‘She was at 24ft (8m) of water when the group turned around because of a change of current. She most likely had a half of tank of air,’ wrote Sass ‘There was a down current at the turn-around site, but it was manageable.

‘I’ve easily done 1000+ dives with this gracious woman; she was an excellent diver. I don’t believe it was the environment and certainly not a shark that ended her life.

‘Colleen’s body was identifiable. Her fingerprints (again identifiable) are being used by our US Embassy and the local government for proof of death. This would not be possible if the shark had attacked her weeks ago.’

‘She would have been heartsick to know a shark died because of her and that her death is giving sharks, once again, a bad name.’

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