Mary River Wilderness Retreat and Caravan Park told of man taken by crocodile while swimming in Mary River, NT A MAN has been taken by a crocodile at a popular Top End tourist resort on Saturday afternoon. The man, 24, was swimming with a friend in the croc-infested Mary River when he went missing. Mary River Wilderness Retreat and Caravan Park employee Erin Bayard said the man's friend reported the incident to them about 4pm. "He was in shock," Ms Bayard said. Two local boys decided to go swimming, we tell people to stay away from the water, they obviously went against this (and) a man was taken. Approximate area of the attack near the Mary River Wilderness Retreat and Caravan Park in the Northern Territory. The retreat worker said the two men went swimming somewhere between the accommodation block and the nearby Arnhem Highway bridge but she was unsure exactly where. Northern Watch Commander Peter Lindfield said water police were on the scene searching for the missing man with the help of Parks and Wildlife rangers. Northern Watch Commander Peter Lindfield said water police were searching for the missing man with the help of Parks and Wildlife rangers late last night. National Parks and Wildlife rangers were also searching the river until late last night. A few small groups of campers remained by the river. "There's nothing much I can say, it's just a tragedy," one of the campers said. The last fatal crocodile attack in the Northern Territory was in December 2012, when a nine-year-old boy taken by a saltwater crocodile near Dhania, 100km south of Nhulunbuy. The boy was swimming with a group of people when the attack occurred. Adults tried to save the boy but the crocodile dragged the youngster out to deeper water. Community members had fed the 4m crocodile with fish and wallaby carcasses for several years, a practice that some Nhulunbuy residents described as ``a disaster waiting to happen. In November 2012 a girl, 7, was taken by a saltie at Gumarrirngbang outstation, near Maningrida, on November 17. Three other people, including two children, have been killed by crocodiles since 2009.