Following the discovery of charred human remains beside a campfire in French Polynesia, European rumormongers fretted that Stefan Ramin—a German tourist who went missing while vacationing on the island of Nuku Hiva—had been eaten by cannibals.

"Hacked to pieces and burned," reported the Daily Mail. "Attacked and eaten," wrote the Telegraph.

But Sky News says the cannibalism rumors are false, according to "police." (Which police? When? Why is this report so ambiguous?) In the meantime, the human remains have been sent to Paris for analysis. The material is believed to contain bones, a jaw, teeth, and "melted metal believed to be fillings."

Authorities continue to hunt for Ramin's guide, Henri Haiti, the last man believed to have seen him alive. Ramin, age 40, was on a round-the-world sailing adventure with his girlfriend, who tells police that Haiti tied her to a tree and sexually assaulted her after Ramin disappeared during a "goat hunting trip." [Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sky News, Australian, image via Stefan Ramin's Picasa]