Tiger Shark Kills American Tourist Diving Off Costa Rican Coast

An American tourist was killed by a tiger shark while diving off a Costa Rican island in the Pacific Ocean earlier this week.

The 49-year-old woman was identified by friends as Rohina Bhandari, a private equity director from New York City.

Local news reports from Costa Rica cited a statement from the Ministry of Environment and Energy saying Bhandari was hauled out of the water after sustaining severe bites to her legs after she was attacked by the shark while scuba diving off of remote Isla del Coco Thursday.

She was with a group of friends when the shark attacked as the group surfaced following a dive. The trip to the island of the Pacific ocean was organized by a private company. The diving instructor was also reportedly seriously injured but was said to be in a stable condition. The woman had suffered severe lacerations on both of her legs.

The 26-year-old diving guide identified by his last name Jimenez said it was a female tiger shark that attacked and killed Bhandari. He also said he tried to scare off the animal after noticing it first approach them. A boater and other divers also made attempts to drive the creature away but it was too late. “ Upon reaching the surface, the attack on the tourist was already serious, ” the ministry said., according to Q Costa Rica News.

Authorities said two park rangers of the Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación (SINAC) and several doctors who were part of the diving tourism group of 18 people on the island trip by Undersea Hunter Group offered first aid. The group regularly organized tours to the national park, which is a Natural World Heritage Site reportedly known for its abundance of sharks. The environment ministry, meanwhile, stressed that attack was ‘an isolated incident’ and the first one of such seriousness recorded for the island.

Alan Steenstrup, the tour company’s sales manager, said they were “in shock” because of the incident and added they were now focusing on working with the victim’s family and the authorities.

According to New York Daily News, Bhandari was a resident of Manhattan’s Upper East Side and a senior director at WL Ross Co. LL, a firm founded by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. She was also frequently seen at charity events throughout the city.

It was reported that the boat carrying Bhandari’s body would arrive at the Puerto Caldera after traveling the 532 kilometers from the island on Friday night. It would then will be transferred to the Forensic Medicine Laboratory in Heredia before being repatriated. However, it is not known where the body had been taken as of Sunday morning.

Bhandari’s friends reacted with shock and sadness on her Facebook page upon learning the news of her death.

“Rohina you were the brightest of lights that went out much too soon,” one person wrote. “My life was richer for having known you.”

“Unbelievably sad and heartbreaking news that Rohina has died,” another said. “She was such a wonderful person who loved life. I will always remember her kindness, friendship, and our adventures together.”

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Florida teen found safe in New York; soccer coach arrested

LAKE CITY, Fla. – Columbia County deputies said a 17-year-old high school soccer player believed to have run off with a 27-year-old coach was found safe Friday in Syracuse, New York, News 6 sister station WJXT reported.

Caitlyn Frisina and Rian Rodriguez were the center of a nationwide search that ended after 4 p.m. Friday when they were pulled over by a New York State Police officer who spotted the red Mercury Sable the pair were believed to be traveling in, authorities said.

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Rodriguez was arrested on a charge of interference in child custody, and Caitlyn was detained, deputies said.

Jessie Mykietyn told WJXT he was shocked that a story as large as Caitlyn’s would end in his neighborhood. 

“I was standing here working with my customer and just glanced over and saw that there were several police cars surrounding a vehicle,” Mykietyn said. “It’s mind-boggling,” Mykietyn said. “I mean, you know you hear about this big story and you never think something like that will actually come into your own neighborhood and backyard.”

Caitlyn’s mother, Scarlet Frisina, told WJXT that she is “just thrilled” to know her daughter is OK. She said her family is packing in case they need to go to New York to pick Caitlyn up.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement missing child alert issued Tuesday for Caitlyn was canceled after she was found.

Until Friday, the last sighting of Caitlyn and Rodriguez was at a pawnshop in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but authorities said they believed the two had continued to head north. Caitlyn has family in New York state, deputies said.

“I don’t really remember what day it was that we actually got to see those surveillance images, but my first reaction was she appeared to be perfectly fine, and that was a big — ‘OK, she’s OK,’” Frisina said Friday before her daughter was found.

Columbia County deputies thanked the New York State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service for their help, saying the Marshals were “instrumental in locating the pair” and tracking down leads that led to them being found.

Sheriff Mark Hunter said Wednesday that authorities didn’t believe Caitlyn was endangered, but she was with a man who is 10 years older than her and she is still legally a juvenile.

The pair were spotted in Georgia and South Carolina before they were seen in Fayetteville.

The road trip cost Rodriguez his job.

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The former Fort White High School head boys soccer coach was fired Wednesday by the Columbia County School Board for “failure to report to work.”

According to the missing person report, a friend told investigators that Caitlyn sent her a text message, indicating there may be a relationship between the 17-year-old and Rodriguez.

Authorities believe Caitlyn sneaked out of her bedroom window in the middle of the night.

Her mother discovered she was gone Sunday morning. After realizing her car and cellphone were still at the home, they called family and friends and then reported her missing to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said the bedroom window was open, the window screen was off and footprints leading away from Caitlyn’s home indicated she was alone when she left.

Deputies said Caitlyn wiped her cellphone by returning it to factory settings before leaving sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Frisina said Friday before her daughter was found that Rodriguez was the only person who didn’t answer when she and her husband were calling around trying to find Caitlyn Sunday morning.

She said that until that moment they never considered that Rodriguez and Caitlyn might have developed an inappropriate relationship. The two knew each other from their club and high school soccer teams, and the mother described Rodriguez as a trusted, longtime family friend.

“Because he is younger, there’s always that camaraderie and the banter back and forth and different things, but nothing that we felt like was out of ordinary or odd for a coach-and-player relationship. It all seemed very normal to us,” she said. “We felt like we knew who he was.”

Frisina said nothing from the Thanksgiving holiday weekend seemed off or unusual for her family.

“Everything seemed wonderful — (spending) family time together — and it turned into the most horrible dream,” she said. “I kept thinking, ‘When am I going to wake up and find out it’s all not true?’”

Frisina said her daughter has potential to play soccer in college, and her family doesn’t understand what would make her walk away from that.

“It makes us wonder and think that there was something that he had on her or had over her or had convinced her of, obviously, (he) had lied to her to cause her to take such a drastic measure and step,” she said.

The circumstances surrounding the pair’s trip north are still unclear.

This article is courtesy of WJXT-TV.

Copyright 2017 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.

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