Teenager beheaded in brutal shark attack off Jamaica coast

A 16-year-old boy was brutally attacked by a shark while swimming alone off the coast of Jamaica, an extremely rare attack on the Caribbean island, authorities said.

Divers found the decapitated body of Jahmari Reid on Tuesday morning, a day after he disappeared during his solo spearfishing expedition near the popular tourist resort of Montego Bay.

The teenager was also missing his left arm and the rest of his body was badly mutilated, witnesses told the Jamaica Observer.

“I can't believe he went out to sea alone yesterday and this was the result. It's sad. I feel so bad,” Jahmari's heartbroken father Michael Reid told the local news agency.

A tiger shark was spotted in the tropical waters where Jahmari's severed arm was found, leading rescue teams to suspect the marine predator was the culprit.

The divers and fishermen tried to shoot the “big shark” but missed, a witness said. Crews hoped they could recover Jahmari's missing head from the fish's stomach before it was too late.

According to police, the high school student was spearfishing alone early Monday when the tragedy occurred.

Jahmari was an avid spearfisherman, although his grieving father persistently tried to dissuade him from taking up this water sport.

“It's something we argue about, something we fight about. He's not doing it for a good cause, he's not doing it for self-interest or anything. It is what it is. Can you believe that?” Michael Reid said.

Experts suspect that the cannibal was following a cruise ship when he discovered the teenager.

“We have to make sure we are careful when the ships arrive. The shark eats the man's head off, eats one of his hands off. [sic]“It’s crazy, man,” said Fritz Christie, president of the Falmouth Fisherfolks Benevolent Society.

Shark attacks are extremely rare in Jamaica.

Since 1749, only three unprovoked shark attacks have been reported near the island nation, according to the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.

With post wires