Surfer mauled to death by shark in front of girlfriend & horrified tourists as witnesses describe piercing screams

A MISSING surfer has been presumed dead after drone footage captured him in a horrific shark attack.

Steven Jeffrey Payne, 37, from Melbourne, went missing on Monday on a remote Western Australian Beach near Esperance whilst surfing with his girlfriend.

Terrified bystanders witnessed the ordeal, hearing screams before the surfer vanished.

His surfing board was later retrieved with bite marks in, but his body remains missing.

Esperance police Senior Sergeant Chris Taylor revealed that a member of the public had been flying a drone at the time above the sunny beach, and captured the grim ordeal on camera.

The Sergeant said: “I don’t think there’s much point in utilising all the resources that we have at the moment too much longer.

“There was a lot of blood, the shark, and some other things that I don’t think any others need to see.”

“The partner observed what happened yesterday, which is tragic,” he added.

The search is likely to be called off on Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses told local media about the shocking incident which reportedly lasted minutes.

Beachgoer Joscelin Boissieux said: "There were screams.”

She added: “There were people saying like ‘get out’, everything - it was a very panicked moment."

The beach remains closed at the moment, and there have been no further reports of shark sightings

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