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School Teacher Believed Killed in Shark Attack at South Australia Beach: 'I Saw His Board'

Authorities found remnants of a wetsuit and a surfboard with “one bite in the middle” after locals reported a shark attack

Getty Images/iStockphoto Shark attack
Getty Images/iStockphoto Shark attack

A school teacher is believed dead after being attacked by a shark in South Australia.

Simon Baccanello, 46, is "presumed dead" after going missing at remote Walkers Rock Beach, around 450 miles west of Adelaide.

A witness at the scene, Jaiden Millar, was surfing near Baccanello when the attack happened, reported CBS News.

"I saw his board tombstoning, which means he's underwater and his board's getting dragged under ... trying to fight his way back to the surface," Millar said, per CBS News.

On Monday, South Australian police said that emergency services located "two items of interest" in relation to Baccanello's disappearance on Sunday.

They added that Baccanello was "presumed dead after a shark attack."

"One item appears to be a piece of wetsuit material, and the other items appear to be small pieces of white polystyrene (possible surfboard material). No other items have been located to date," the release continued. "Police will send the found items to be forensically analysed."

"In consultation with the family, Police will continue to search Walkers Rock and surrounding beaches in the coming days after high tide," the police continued.

Related:Swimmer Dies from 'Catastrophic Injuries' in Sydney's First Fatal Shark Attack in Almost 60 Years

Local State Emergency Service manager Trevlyn Smith told News Corp that the surfboard remnants had "one bite in the middle," reported CBS News.

Speaking to CNN, the principal at Baccanello's school described the teacher as having "a real keenness with his students to make them feel good."

The attack comes just two months after a teenage girl was killed in a rare shark attack in Western Australia.

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Stella Berry, 16, was jet skiing with friends on the Swan River in Perth when she jumped into the water to swim with a pod of dolphins, according to the Associated Press, Reuters and CNN.

RELATED VIDEO: 16-Year-Old Girl Killed in Shark Attack on Australia's West Coast

"There was possibly a pod of dolphins seen nearby and the young female jumped in the water to swim nearby the dolphins," Police Acting Inspector Paul Robinson said per the AP.

Authorities were called to the scene just before 4 p.m. near a traffic bridge, where Berry was pulled from the water with critical injuries, including massive blood loss, 7 News Australia reported.

Tragically, the girl died at the scene, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. It was the first fatal shark attack on the river in 100 years.

"The family weren't there when this took place, however, her friends were and as you can imagine this is an extremely traumatic incident for anyone to witness," Police Acting Inspector Paul Robinson said, per CBS News. "So obviously we're offering counseling services to anyone who did witness it or is affected by the incident."

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