The American vacationer who was devoured by a shark in Indonesia is believed to have died from a “medical issue” whereas diving, her mates advised The Post Monday — revealing that she was an skilled deep-sea diver who was “really enjoying life.”
Colleen Monfore, a retired mother of two from Holland, Michigan, was having fun with her dream trip — a seven-week diving tour together with her husband, Mike — when tragedy struck on Sept. 26, household pal Rick Sass stated.
Just a number of days into the journey, Monfore, 68, disappeared throughout a gaggle dive round Pulau Reong island, north of Timor-Leste and off the coast of the Southwest Maluku Regency. Two weeks later, fishermen in Timor-Leste caught the shark — and minimize human stays out of its stomach greater than 70 miles from the place she vanished.
Authorities have been in a position to ID Monfore from the physique’s fingerprints, in accordance to Sass, a longtime good friend who has been in shut contact with the household all through their harrowing ordeal.
“We do not believe this was a shark attack. Mike thinks she suffered some kind of medical issue in the water,” Sass advised The Post.
Sass and his spouse, Kim — who ran a dive store collectively for greater than 40 years — examined photographs from the dive, spoke with Mike at size in regards to the incident and reviewed knowledge from his dive laptop.
The mates are adamant that Monfore, who Rick Sass stated appears to have been separated from the group when tough waters pressured them to flip round, was not killed by a shark. She was round 24 toes down and doubtless had half a tank of air left, he stated.
“There was a down current at the turnaround site, but it was manageable,” Kim Sass wrote in a Facebook publish. “I’ve easily done 1000+ dive[s] with this gracious woman … I don’t believe it was the environment and certainly not a shark that ended her life.”
Rick Sass added: “They dove huge numbers of journeys with us over 30 years. Bali, Philippines, Bikini Atoll, you title it.
“She knew what she was doing.”
Mike Monfore was already an avid diver when he met Colleen in highschool in their native state of South Dakota, and he or she too quickly fell in love with the ocean.
They had two youngsters and, ultimately, 4 grandkids, however they by no means stopped touring the world and exploring the seas collectively. “They were both retired and really enjoying life,” Rick Sass stated.
“We used to call her ‘Saint Colleen.’ She was an amazing woman,” he added. “She loved nature and animals. I know she would have never wanted a shark to be blamed for this tragedy.”
He famous that shark assaults towards divers are extraordinarily uncommon.
“And sharks are not that way. We’ve dove with hammerheads, tiger sharks, bull sharks. You have to give them respect and be cautious, but they won’t just attack you.”
There have been solely 69 confirmed unprovoked shark bites worldwide final yr, in accordance to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, and 94% of these have been on snorkelers, waders and surfers. The remaining 6% are categorized as “other.”
It’s not but clear how precisely Colleen Monfore died. Grisly photographs from the scene present the shark in query minimize open — with human stays in a black wetsuit close by.
“The shark was caught but it was not in normal health. I thought it had swallowed plastic or a fishing net,” the fisherman stated, in accordance to Asia Pacific Press. “It was cut open to find the problem and inside there were the remains of a woman.”
Rick Sass stated her husband has been struggling not solely together with her demise however bringing his spouse’s stays again dwelling.
“He’s hardly been sleeping at all, partly because he’s up on the phone with Indonesia, which is a 12-hour time difference,” he stated. “He’s answering phone calls in the middle of the night, and talking to us during the day, and not just not being able to sleep because of this horrible thing that happened.”
Indonesian authorities stated an investigation is underway.
