What started out as a regular afternoon with his friends at the northern Caribbean Río Tortuguero turned out to be the last for 13-year-old Breydi Escorcia, who was killed by a crocodile in the river Friday, according to the daily La Nación.

A crocodile measuring about six meters grabbed Escorica's foot and pulled him under water. His friend Luis Wilson said that the boy, knowing his death was near, cried out a final farewell to his brother and told him to say goodbye to their father. He managed to warn his friends to never swim in the river again.

Escorcia, who often played in the river, had apparently been attacked by the crocodile, known in the community as Juancho, on two previous occasions, his friends told La Nación. Both times, he had managed to escape.

Members of the San Francisco de Tortuguero community began searching for his body Friday and continued searching Saturday and yesterday. At press time yesterday, there were no reports of his body being found. Some in the community have said they also want to find and kill the crocodile.

Community members say Escorcia's death marked the first time a crocodile in Río Tortuguero has killed a human being; in the past, these reptiles have killed pigs, dogs and other domestic animals.

-Tico Times