Crocodile attack horror unfolds as couple tries to save victim: ‘We felt so helpless’

A California couple who tried to rescue a tourist during a deadly crocodile attack is warning travelers about dangerous swimming conditions in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The attack occurred around 6:30 p.m. local time on Friday, June 26, the Jalisco State Police (JSP) confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Jamie Yetter and her fiancé, Chris Bury, saw the attack unfold while they were swimming nearby. They attempted to help the victim, who was identified as Irving Mauricio, 28, of Mexico City.

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"We were at the pool when we heard some screams down at the water … We thought he was just stuck in the rip current," Bury told Fox News Digital.

Yetter and Bury, of Orange County, were both on swim teams and are used to pulling people out of rip currents, she said. 

When Bury got in the water, people warned him there was a crocodile. 

"I saw that [the victim] was kind of struggling," he recalled. "There was … no one around that could help save him."

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Bury, 48, quickly grabbed a kayak, but there were no oars. 

"I laid on my stomach and paddled with my hands to get out there," he recounted.

Meanwhile, Yetter and her daughter were on the beach and watched the incident unfold.

"Every time the man would resurface, [he] was deeper and deeper into the ocean," she said.

Yetter, 42, wanted to run into the water and help, but she worried there could be other crocodiles in the water, she said.

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"It was so gruesome and graphic. I saw [him] being taken under by the crocodile over and over," Yetter recounted.

She said the 12-foot crocodile was "massive," noting "his head was as long as my torso, his tail thicker than my legs."

"It was absolutely horrible. We felt so helpless," she said.

A search and location operation was implemented in coordination with the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR), the Directorate of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Puerto Vallarta, and the State Unit of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Jalisco, the Jalisco State Police told Fox News Digital.

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The search operation lasted through the night, and the victim's body was discovered at approximately 7 a.m. Saturday, the police confirmed. 

The crocodile was also captured.

The victim's mother, Claudia Mauricio, expressed her grief in a message posted online.

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"I only ask God that on the day I leave this world, I may find you again and that you may greet me with that beautiful smile you always had for me," she said. "You will always live in my heart."

The police confirmed to Fox News Digital that the beach was not closed after the incident.

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It is an open beach for tourists, and it typically remains open, the police said.

In the areas near the mouths of the rivers and the estuary, there is permanent signage with warnings and restrictive cordoning, the police noted.

There has been increased discussion about crocodiles in the region since July 2025, when lifeguards captured a 12-foot crocodile on a southern Puerto Vallarta beach, according to Mexico News Daily.

Local experts estimated last year that the Puerto Vallarta region — especially around Boca de Tomatlán and Boca Negra — has around 200 to 250 American crocodiles, the news outlet reported.