On the day before Halloween, a young boy named Julio Otero Fernández went fishing with his family in the Matina River, located within close proximity to his home in Limón (Costa Rica). At some point during the fishing trip, Julio stepped knee-deep into the water to play. With both of his parents present, the 8-year-old was suddenly snatched up by a large crocodile, beheaded, and decapitated before being pulled down into the dark abyss of the river, disappearing forever.
“It shook [Julio] and ripped off his little head,” said a bystander when describing the mauling. “Then it grabbed him again and dragged him under.”
The most disheartening aspect of this shocking turn of events is that Julio's parents, Don Julio Otero and Margini Fernández Flores, watched their child unimaginably lose his life, and there's very little they could have done to prevent it once the crocodile went on the attack.
“The hardest thing for my wife was seeing the crocodile float away with my son’s body,” Otero said.
According to reports, after Julio was abducted, the crocodile resurfaced, periodically with parts of Julio in its mouth, adding to the parents' agony. When law enforcement showed up, they reportedly saw the animal, but they refused to shoot it because of the laws in place that protect animal rights, much to the dismay of Julio's dad, Don Julio Otero.
“For my part, I feel abandoned by the authorities,” Otero recalled. “An animal is worth more than a human being; that’s what I’ve felt.”
The horrific and tragic passing of Julio would not be forgotten by locals as they kept their eye out for the large reptile responsible for the occurrence. This past Saturday, nearly one month after the incident, a hunter spotted a crocodile in the same area where Julio was abducted, and he shot it dead. The hunter immediately fled the scene because intentionally killing a crocodile is illegal in Costa Rica. Shortly after the crocodile was killed, the locals gathered and dissected it, hoping to bring a resolution to the area-wide suspicion about which animal killed Julio. When they cut open the crocodile's belly, they discovered what they believed were the remains of Julio. The bones were then submitted to law enforcement for DNA testing.
In the wake of Julio's tragic death, his parents plan to move from Costa Rica to their native country of Nicaragua with his four siblings.
“I will not stay here because they protect these animals, and they are capable of leaving the river to attack more people,” said Julio's Mom, Margini Fernández Flores.
Scroll up and swipe right to view a photo of Julio and the crocodile after a hunter put it down.
Source: News.com
