Alexei Gradulenko And Alexander Abdullaev, Fishermen, Suspected Of Cannibalism In Siberia

Two fishermen are suspected of murdering and eating their friend in a desperate attempt to stave off starvation.

The Siberian Times reports that Alexei Gradulenko, 35, and Alexander Abdullaev, 37, were saved by a rescue helicopter in late November, three months after they set out with two other friends along the remote Sutam River.

The men had survived temperatures below -22 Fahrenheit and were weakened from malnourishment.

Investigators also said they found a body in the same area where the two survivors were discovered. The police are not certain if the corpse is one of the two still-missing fishermen -- Viktor Komarov, 47, and Andrei Kurochkin, 44 -- but they do think the unidentified man was murdered.

The skeletal remains “had been hacked up with an axe and had little flesh remaining on them,” rescuers told the Russian paper Komsomolskaya Pravda paper. according to the Russian International News Agency.

Police will conduct genetic analysis on the corpse to determine its identity.

Gradulenko and Abdullaev escaped from the hospital where they were being treated. They disappeared shortly after being interrogated by the police. A group of investigators has flown to the site of the suspected murder for further investigation, according to RIA.

The Daily Mail reports that, as of yet, no charges have been filed in the case.