California couple’s desperate bid to save man, 28, from crocodile attack ends in tragedy after they heard screams coming from beach while on vacation in Mexico

A California couple tried to save the life of a 28-year-old man from a deadly alligator attack in popular Mexican getaway destination Puerto Vallarta.

Jamie Yetter, her fiancé Chris Bury and her teenage daughter were vacationing at the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa when they were alerted to a man in trouble around 6:30 p.m. Friday.

As the Orange County man made his way to the swimming pool, he heard screams of terror and dropped everything to come to his aid.

At first they thought the man had been swept away by the current, but they realized he had been dragged out to sea by a huge crocodile.

The victim, a Mexican native named Irving, was in a tourist town with friends when he was attacked in the ocean.

His fiancee immediately took action and tried to throw Irving a life preserver, but he was in shock and couldn’t reach her, ABC7 reported.

A good Samaritan then brought a canoe to the beach, and Bury jumped into the boat without an oar in an attempt to reach the victim and pull him to safety.

‘There was no shovel. “There was nothing on the beach that would really help,” Bury told NBC4.

‘We were just trying, trying to do the best we could,’ he said. ‘I was on the boat when it was pulled under.’

Grainy, disturbing video shows huge crocodile on beach

The reptile clamped its massive jaw onto Irving’s hip, Yetter said.

‘It was the size of a crocodile, so its head was as long as my torso and its tail was thicker than my legs. “He was just turning her around, getting her under him,” he told ABC7.

Despite the brave efforts of the California family, the wild alligator killed the 28-year-old in front of their eyes.

The lifeless body of the 28-year-old was recovered approximately 12 hours later in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Disturbing video captured by local media shows the huge crocodile on the beach with its mouth open and its teeth bared as the waves crash over it.

Yetter told Surfer.com that resort staff never warned them about the dangers of the water.

“They didn’t tell anyone it was dangerous,” Yetter said.

The mother said she noticed beach signs warning of jellyfish and stingrays, but did not notice an additional symbol warning of alligators.

He said his family initially confused the crocodile symbol with the iguana.

The horrific attack took place around 18:30 on Friday near the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa.

Orange County couple tried but failed to save struggling victim

Aerial view of the boardwalk in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

‘They didn’t tell us we shouldn’t go swimming. I even went down to the ocean the next morning. “I assumed the beach would be closed,” Yetter told the outlet.

‘The beach was not closed. “There was no sign of a swimming ban,” he added.

The suspected crocodile was captured by police, and by Saturday morning beachgoers had returned to the same shoreline where families were once again swimming in the water.

The attack occurred near the site of the 2022 alligator incident in Jalisco that injured two Colorado tourists.

Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa did not comment on the latest attack.