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HAGATNA, Guam >> A Korean tourist who went missing while visiting Guam was attacked by a shark before he drowned, according to findings from an autopsy.
Authorities identified the man as Nae Dok Kim, 40, Pacific Daily News reported.
He was last seen on the beach Saturday. Employees of Pacific Islands Club Guam had helped in the search, and lifeguards were asked to look out for any sight of him.
Two fishermen found his remains floating the next day about 20 feet offshore in Tumon Bay.
Both of his legs and his right arm were missing, said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola. The autopsy showed evidence of bleeding, an indication that his heart was still beating when the attack happened.
“He also drowned, but before he drowned, he was attacked,” Espinola said.
“Our prayers go out to the family,” said Karl Pangelinan, general manager of the Guam Visitor’s Bureau.
While shark attacks are not common for Guam, the tourist was likely attacked while swimming over the edge of the reef, where there are larger sharks, said Terry Donaldson, a professor at University of Guam’s marine laboratory. Sharks that could have caused his injuries are usually in deeper water, but tiger sharks have been seen moving into shallower water at night, Donaldson said.
In 2009, a 3 1/2-foot blacktip reef shark bit a fisherman. The shark had been impaled by three spears and was fighting as it was being carried to shore. In 2006, a Japanese tourist was diving when he was scraped on the arm by the teeth of a 13-foot tiger shark.
