The Marriott Puerto Vallarta Hotel and Spa beach, where a man was killed by a crocodile on Friday evening. Photo: Marriott Puerto Vallarta Hotel and Spa
According to reports, a 28-year-old Mexican man was killed by a crocodile near the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa June 26. The attack was witnessed by a pair of tourists from San Clemente, California at around 6:30 p.m.
Chris Bury, his fiance Jamie Yetter, and her teenage daughter were in the hotel pool when they heard screams from the nearby beach. “We thought we saw a guy stuck in a rip current, so Chris took off down to the water, and I ran right after him,” Yetter told NBC Los Angeles.
Bury found a kayak on the beach and jumped in to try and help the man, but the kayak had no paddles. “There were no oars,” he remembered. “There was really nothing at the beach at all to help. We were just scrambling, trying to do what we could. I was on the kayak right when he got pulled under.”
Yetter described the incident in graphic detail to ABC7. “The crocodile had him by the thigh, and he would turn, and the size of this crocodile, I mean, his head was as long as my torso, his tail thicker than my legs. He was just turning him, taking him under,” she said.
By the time Bury reached the man, there was nothing to be done. “He went down, and then, at that point, he stayed down,” said Bury. “So I was over top of him, but the water was so murky, and you couldn’t even see a foot down. By the time I got to him, it was unfortunately too late. It’s pretty traumatizing.”
After a search party was sent out, the victim’s body was found nearly 12 hours later, early on Saturday morning. NBC Los Angeles reported that the beach remained open and people were still swimming in the same area that the man was killed in.
