FALMOUTH, Trelawny — A thick cloud of gloom hovered over Falmouth Fishing Beach Tuesday morning after the headless body of a William Knibb Memorial High School student, believed to be the victim of a shark attack, was salvaged offshore, a day after he went missing during a spearfishing expedition.

The left arm was severed from the badly mutilated body of 16-year-old Jahmari Reid of a Race Course, Falmouth, address.

Scores of people converged on the fishing beach to view the remains which had been taken from the sea by divers.

Among the gathering was the teen’s grieving father, Michael Reid, a taxi operator.

“I can’t believe that he went to sea by himself yesterday (Monday) and that was the outcome. Sad to know. I feel so bad,” said the heartbroken father, his face contorted with grief.

The cabbie said he often discouraged his son from his spearfishing hobby.

“It is something that we argue about, we fight about. He’s not doing it for a worthy cause, he’s not doing it for needs or anything. It is what it is still. Can you believe it?” the distressed father lamented.

Christopher Reynolds, one of the bewildered fishers, sat on the beach staring blankly. He disclosed that the remains of the young Jahmari had been retrieved from the water by a group of divers who had gone in search of him on Tuesday morning.

He said he was informed that a massive tiger shark was spotted in the water by the divers who located the body, shortly after they recovered the detached arm.

“All of the fisherman went out there and, while they were diving to take him up, they saw the big shark. They shot at him but they didn’t get him,” Reynolds said.

He is adamant that the killer shark must be located and killed and the severed head recovered.

According to Reynolds, that is done in other areas where fishermen find and kill sharks that attack people and take out whatever part of the body from their stomach.

“I want us to do a similar thing here,” he insisted.

President of Falmouth Fisherfolks Benevolent Society Fritz Christie said this was the first time in recent history that a shark has been said to have killed anyone in the Trelawny waters. He said it is being theorised that the shark followed a cruise vessel into the Falmouth waters.

“It look like when one of the ship come in a big shark follow the ship come in and it look like when the ship leave the shark did not leave the area. And the youth go out and he was attacked by the shark. It bit off his head,” Christie theorised.

He advised spearfishers to exercise extreme caution after a cruise ship comes into the Falmouth port.

“What we have to do is make certain when the ships come to be careful of the diving. The shark eat off the man head, eat off one of his hand. It’s crazy, man,” Christie said.

The Falmouth police are investigating.