A man was attacked and killed by a crocodile on a popular beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, according to reports citing the Jalisco State Police.
The victim, who was a 28-year-old Mexican man, was on the beach of Marina Vallarta near the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa when he was attacked by a crocodile and dragged into the sea on Friday around 18:30 local time, Jalisco State Police said in a statement on Sunday to ABC News and NBC News in Los Angeles.
The body of the deceased was reported to have been found on Saturday morning at a distance of 300 meters from the shore following a night-long search and rescue operation at sea and on land, reports ABC News.
Global News reached out to Jalisco state police and the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa for further comment but have not yet received a response.
Jamie Yetter, her fiance Chris Bury, and her daughter were staying at a hotel and lounging by the pool when they heard a scream from the ocean, according to NBC News.
Get the latest country news
Get the best Canadian news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you never miss a trending story.
“We thought we saw a guy stuck in the river, so Chris went down to the water and I ran after him,” Yetter told NBC Los Angeles.
Bury told the store that he got out of the kayak and started paddling towards the man trying to help him.
“There were no oars. There was absolutely nothing in the sea to help. We were still crawling, trying to do what we could,” said Bury. “I was in the kayak when he was pulled under.”
Yetter told ABC News that the alligator was very large and had the man “on his lap.”
“He was turning around, and the size of this alligator, I mean, his head was as long as my body, his tail was thicker than my legs. He was just turning him around, putting him under,” he told ABC7.
“He went down, and at that moment, he sat on the ground. So I was above him, but the water was so crazy, and you couldn’t even see your foot on the ground,” added Bury.
This attack happened near the beach where two Colorado men were attacked by a crocodile in 2022. These tourists are injured by this crocodile when one goes swimming in the sea at night and the other enters the water to help him.
The civil protection office in the western state of Jalisco told the Associated Press that the first American was bitten on the legs, arm, abdomen and chest. A man who entered the water to help injured his hand.
The office said both men were given first aid at the scene.
-From files from the Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
