THE police coordinated recovery search for Cindy Waldron, who was taken by a crocodile at Thornton Beach on Sunday night, has been called off.

Senior Constable Russ Parker said police were wrapping up their efforts in the Daintree National Park this afternoon, more than five days after the search began for the 46-year old photographer after she was snatched by a croc near Cape Tribulation.

She had been wading in water with her friend, 47-year old Leeann Mitchell, when she was grabbed and pulled underneath by the animal.

Parker said the hunt for the suspected crocodile, estimated to be a massive five-metre male, would continue ‘until it’s caught’ with three traps to remain in place at Coopers Creek.

“Police are ceasing the ground search as we speak and there will not be a police presence after today, but the search will continue for the croc itself,” Parker said.

“Officers from the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection will remain for a few more days and the traps will stay there for as long as it takes. At this stage there is not a lot more the police can do up there.”

Parker also confirmed the 2.6m crocodile, caught close to where Waldron went missing, was unlikely to be responsible for her disappearance. It had its stomach flushed today and ‘nothing as yet had been identified as human’.

Air, land and sea searches have failed to find any trace of the New Zealand born woman described as a fun-loving free spirit by family and friends.