Missing man's remains found in shark after family recognise tattoo

The remains of a man who disappeared in southern Argentina earlier in February appear to have been found inside a school shark, after family recognised a tattoo.

Diego Barria, 32, was last seen near the coast in the southern Chubut province, riding his all-terrain vehicle (ATV) late on February 18.

Two days later his damaged ATV was found on a beach, near Rocas Coloradas, but there was no sign of Mr Barria and a search operation was launched to find the father of three.

On Sunday, two fishermen reported to the coastguard that they had fished three school sharks close to where Mr Barria's ATV was located, and "when they were cleaning them they found human remains in one of them", the officer said.

Family members recognised Mr Barria "due to a tattoo that appeared in one of those remains", they added.

Officials are continuing to investigate what exactly happened to Mr Barria, and are working on the hypothesis that he "had an accident and was dragged" into the sea, a police chief said.

DNA testing of the remains is now set to be conducted to officially confirm they belong to Mr Barria.

The school shark, in which the remains were found, measured around 1.5 metres (4.9 feet).

"My heart went with you! I love you forever," Virginia Brugger, who was identified as Mr Barria's partner, wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday.

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