‘Top bloke’: Fisherman missing in croc-infested waters identified

The man missing in croc-infested waters in remote Far North Queensland has been identified as a well-known and well-like publican, as details have emerged of how the horror unfolded.

The man missing in croc-infested waters in remote Far North Queensland has been identified as 65-year-old Kevin Darmody. It comes as more details have emerged of how the horror unfolded

Laura publican Mr Darmody went missing from the Kennedy Bend section of Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park on Saturday afternoon after his friend heard splashing sounds when Mr Darmody was fishing on the river bank.

Fellow campers also reported hearing a loud scream and a commotion near the water before he disappeared about 3.30pm.

It’s believed Kevin Darmody was killed by a crocodile.

Mr Darmody ran the The Peninsula Hotel, formerly the Quinkan Hotel, and his Facebook page depicted him as being familiar with fishing in crocodile country.

Cooktown resident Bart Harrison said his shocked mate was nearby when Mr Darmody, known as ‘Stumpy’, disappeared.

“He was only 10 minutes down the road and a lad came up on the road shouting ‘he’s gone, he’s gone’ and my mate ran down the bank, and said the water was all stirred up and dirty, you could see something bad happened,” Mr Harrison said.

“He was standing right there fishing a few minutes earlier, then he was gone, his thongs were left on the bank.

“He had lived up here since I was a kid, been at the pub a long time, went fishing a lot. He knew the river pretty well, it really is sad,” Mr Harrison said.

“You see a heap of big crocs up there. What has happened has been going to happen, but it’s actually freshwater at Kennedy Bend,” he said.

“Tinnies get flipped all the time when people aren’t in the boats, there’s bloody thousands of them, people are fishing and don’t realise there’s a big saltie looking at them from the bottom,” he said.

“Close encounters are really common, they’re everywhere this time of year ... they are breeding and get territorial,” he said.

Police released this image of the search area.

Pilot and Owner-operator of JLC Helicopters from Cape York Jack Pantovic said that ‘Kev’ was well-known and an avid fisherman.

“He was a top bloke and we all liked him,” Mr Pantovic said.

A crocodile safety committee member said the national park where the fisherman disappeared has been closed since December.

CrocWise member Dan Hammersley, from Cairns, said the Kennedy Bend campgrounds should have been inaccessible as the Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park is closed for the wet season.

“Lakefield is a bit of a tricky one … the rangers haven’t opened the roads or the campgrounds or anything like that,” he said.

“So anyone who was there shouldn’t have been there to start with, potentially, crocodiles would be still breeding in the area.”

The Department of Environment and Science website said the park has been in its wet season closure from December 1 2022 to June 30 2023

Mr Hammersley is the recreational fishing spokesman at CrocWise who discuss crocodile management plans and awareness.

A former commercial crayfisher, he said a male crocodile could have seen Mr Darmody as a threat.

“I guess it’s just one of those things that you know, wrong place wrong time and not taking the right precautions.”

The area is known to have large crocodiles in it. Picture: Supplied

Mr Hammersley has lived in Far North Queensland for nearly 30 years and said his former cray boat skipper David Fordson was the last victim of a fatal crocodile attack.

He said Mr Fordson, a 49-year-old married father of one, was attacked while spearfishing off the remote Bushy Island at Cape York.

“He took the day off and got dropped off by the dinghy and the boys went fishing, he went spearfishing, never returned to the boat, and they found his body the next day.”

“We were always in the water there, it’s a long way offshore but if the conditions are right, yeah, he just got unlucky and came across a large male yeah, that was that was the end of that.”

The search continues for Mr Darmody.

The area where he disappeared. Picture: Supplied

Police and emergency crews were alerted about his disappearance Saturday, with the state government’s Retrieval Helicopter RSCU510 called in to help with the search about 6.30pm, from Cairns, some 400km away.

Police have also been on the scene conducting a search of the area on foot but there has been no sign of the missing man.

The search and rescue operation recommenced Sunday morning, with police SES and the Rescue 510 helicopter starting at first light.

Department of Environment and Science (DES) wildlife officers were assisting with the search.

DES said the roads leading into the Kennedy Bend section of Rinyirru National Park had been closed.

“It is important that ALL crocodile sightings are reported in a timely manner. DES investigates all crocodile sighting reports that it receives,” the DES statement said.

“Rinyirru National Park is known croc country and known to contain large crocodiles.”

One of the men disappeared into the water where there are known to be several large crocodiles. (File photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)

Katter’s Australian Party state leader Robbie Katter called for crocodiles to be controlled and in some instances culled, similarly to how kangaroos, wild dogs, cats and horses are managed.

The member for Traeger said crocodile sightings had exploded in recent years and were being seen in places that had previously been safe to swim in.

“The fact that you can cull dogs, horses and cats but not man-eating crocodiles is the height of environmental madness,” Mr Katter said.

“We don’t want open season, we just want a practical approach (to numbers).

“The answer is simple. We need to control the numbers. Not going overboard but thinning them out will make a difference.”

Lakefield National Park.

Crocodiles were classed as a vulnerable species under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 after they had been hunted to near extinction in the 1970s.

However, Mr Katter said the reluctance to control crocodile numbers would ultimately cost people their lives.

He said the predators were now being seen in swimming holes, waterways and beaches that previously had been safe.

“They’re moving into areas that we have never had them before, and every attack is a strong reminder of the lethal consequences of trying to share waterways,” he said.

“Lake Placid is one example of a waterway we used to enjoy. Innisfail, the Gulf’s rivers all need a thinning out.

“But any talk of culling is offensive to the people who don’t live here. But it’s common sense where I come from.”

KAP’s Shane Knuth accused the state government of failing to listen in a KAP social media post.

“We are already past the acceptable risk stage,” the post read.

“The government is insulting and patronising regional Queenslanders by continually pointing out we should be croc wise.”

Mr Knuth said the party had submitted its safer waterways bill twice to parliament and intended on submitting the bill a third time this year.

“What we are proposing is a better way to manage crocodile populations in Queensland, to reduce the risk to human lives and to open up economic opportunities to indigenous communities,” the post continued.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath, when asked about the crocodile attack by media on Sunday, said the incident was a “very distressing” time for all involved.

The suspected attack comes just three weeks after 4.5m crocodile attacked a man who was spearfishing at Archer Point in Cooktown, in Queensland’s far north.

The 36-year-old Cairns local was flown to Cairns Hospital with injuries to his arms, head, and leg.

A Department of Environment and Science spokesman said its crocodile management program was world leading and had been by an independent panel of experts.

The department spokesman said the state government had allocated $20 million to manage its estuarine crocodile population since 2015.

He said under the program problem crocodiles were targeted for removal.