Jamaica shark attack: Boy, 16, decapitated by predator as he swims alone off coast at tourist hotspot

A teenager has been decapitated in a horrific shark attack after he went swimming off the coast of Jamaica.

Divers recovered 16-year-old Jahmari Reid’s body with his head bitten off and his left arm missing. The Jamaican high school student's body was found in waters just north of the island, authorities said.

Police identified the victim as Jahmari from the northern parish of Trelawny, located just east of the popular tourist town of Montego Bay. The teen apparently went spearfishing alone early Monday, with fishermen finding his body the following day with injuries consistent with a shark attack, police said in a report late Tuesday.

It is understood that Jahmari went fishing alone at around 6am on Monday and it was the following day around 9am when fishermen saw his body floating in the water and they alerted police who took his body to a morgue.

“I can’t believe that he went to sea by himself yesterday and that was the outcome. Sad to know. I feel so bad,” Jahmari’s heartbroken father, Michael Reid, told the Jamaica Observer .

Fisherman Robert Robinson, the teen's uncle said that the teen had been spearfishing. "When he did not return at his usual time we got concerned. A search party was arranged. The first thing we saw was his head bitten all up and chopped off his body," he told the Jamaica Star . "Next we saw a hand before we found the body all bitten up by shark."

The boy's mother, Lavern Robinson, has told of her heartbreak. "Right now a don't know what to say. Jahmari has been going to sea from small. (He) just love it an' (he) always goes out with (his) uncle. (He) was in grade 10 getting ready to go to grade 11," she said, as she broke into tears.

Audrey Steele, vice principal at his school William Knibb, said the youngster was "just a quiet boy". Shark attacks are rare, with a total of 69 confirmed unprovoked attacks worldwide and 14 fatalities reported last year, according to the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.

Since 1749, only three unprovoked shark attacks have been reported in Jamaica, according to the file, which is administered by the Florida Museum of Natural History and the American Elasmobranch Society.