A 36-year-old man from Queensland is missing after jumping into a crocodile and shark-infested river while trying to escape police.
Officers witnessed the man, whose identity has not been made public, jumping into the Fitzroy River as police pursued him in Rockhampton on Thursday (19 October).
He had run from officers as they attempted to execute an arrest warrant at an address on East Street, and was chased along East St and Victoria Pde before jumping into the river.
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Police followed the man to the river bank, at which point Chief Inspector Mark Burgess says they tried to 'verbally negotiate with the missing person to return to the bank, certainly for his own safety'.
"The missing person was well in the water by the time our officers got to the bank," he said.
At one point while the officers were negotiating with the man, Burgess said he became 'distressed'.
The man then went underwater and did not appear to resurface.
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Burgess recalled the situation to 7News, saying: “My understanding is that he’s yelled out ‘help’, or words of that similar nature, and has gone underwater. That would indicate some type of distress or some type of event.
“Unfortunately, the officers have not been able to see that person resurface."
Burgess noted there are 'grave fears' for the man's safety, who has still not been seen since he went underwater at about 6pm local time.
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Police have not ruled out the possibility the man 'may have made it to land', Burgess said, though he pointed out the area is home to a 'number of hazards'.
Fitzroy River is a known crocodile habitat, as well as being known for bull sharks.
A crocodile as big as 4.5 metres was removed the river in July, and officers came across at least one of the reptiles while searching for the man on Thursday night.
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Burgess has not speculated on the fate of the man, but made clear police would not stop the search unless it was 'absolutely clear that it’s futile'.
“We’ll continue to hold out hope and our priority is locating the missing person," he said.
Teams involved in the search for the man include a dive squad, NSW State Emergency Service, police and CQ Rescue helicopter crews.
The man, who is from Kawana, is described as being about 187cm tall, thinly built, with brown hair and blue eyes.
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He was last seen wearing dark shorts and a grey shirt.
Emily Brown