Motivated by the film 'Crocodile Dundee', an American model named Ginger Meadows embarked on a journey to Australia to experience the Outback firsthand, but her adventure ended in horrific tragedy.

The 24-year-old hailed from Snowmass Village in Colorado, a renowned ski resort that contrasts starkly with the arid lands of Darwin in the Northern Territory.

On 29 March 1987, she and her friend Jane Burchett set off to visit King's Cascade aboard a luxury boat, Lady G.

After their Australian adventure, they planned to continue to Papua New Guinea. The boat was operated by skipper Bruce Fitzpatrick and a small crew when it reached the stunning yet crocodile-infested waterfall.

Despite warnings against entering the water due to its dangerous inhabitants, Ginger and Jane chose to take a risk and go for a quick dip.

The captain soon spotted what appeared to be a four-metre saltwater crocodile stealthily approaching the two oblivious women.

Before they could comprehend the situation, they found themselves trapped waist-deep against the waterfall's wall. Jane later recounted the terrifying events that unfolded next for Ginger, reports the Mirror.

"It swam right up to us and had its mouth open. Then I took my shoe off and threw it at it and hit it on the top of its head and it closed its mouth. Because the crocodile was in front of us maybe she thought she could swim to the shoreline and get away," she said.

However, Ginger was no match for the speed of the colossal creature and quickly found herself in a dire predicament.

Jane added: "She let go of my arm, jumped off the ledge, took two strokes and it grabbed her around the waist and pulled her right under the water. Then he pulled her up out of the water right in front of me - I looked her right in the face, she had her arms in the air and she was looking right at me. Then it pulled her back under the water."

Her body was discovered the next day, which would have been her 25th birthday. Chief Inspector Arnold Davies of the regional police station in the Port of Broome stated that her remains were placed inside a body bag, which was positioned at the front of a 23-foot rescue boat.

"After travelling 15 kilometers (9 miles) up to the mouth of the river, a large crocodile leapt out of the water about four feet and snapped the end of the body bag, trying to tear it," he reported. The boat's crew anticipated another attack by the crocodile after it vanished beneath the water, but nothing further transpired.

Meadows' estranged husband, Dwayne McCaulley, then 27, travelled out and identified her body. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2017, Bruce revealed he had cautioned the model against entering the waters.

"We were aware there were crocodiles in the area. And before we went Ginger was told to not so much as dangle a foot in the water," he stated. Ginger's death remains amongst the most high-profile crocodile attacks in Australian history.

According to data published in 2024 by Charles Darwin University, between 1979 and 2022 there were 76 crocodile attacks in the Northern Territory, with 30% of them fatal.