The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of Steve Irwin’s death tape has reemerged as the sixteenth anniversary of the Crocodile Hunter’s death passed this weekend. September 4 marked the death of the iconic Australian, who died after he was stung by a stingray off the Great Barrier Reef in 2006. The incident was captured on camera and is said to reveal the moment when Irwin pulled the stingray’s barb from his chest. Shortly afterwards, he loses consciousness and dies over Batt Reef, off the coast of Port Douglas. At the time of his death there was much speculation over whether the footage would air because Irwin “tells his camera crew to always be filming,” Tommy Donovan, Irwin’s biographer, said at the time. “If he needs help he will ask for it. Even if he is eaten by a shark or croc, the main thing he wants is that it be filmed. If he died he would be sad if no one got it on tape.” Yet TV execs chose not to air the footage, with John Stainton, Irwin’s long-time friend and producer, describing the footage as shocking. “It’s a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die,” he said. “It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here [in the chest], and he pulled it out and the next minute he’s gone. That was it. The cameraman had to shut down.” Police, who also viewed the footage, said at the time: “There is no evidence that Mr. Irwin was intimidating or threatening the stingray.” As tributes poured in, the whereabouts of the death tape remained unknown. Daughter Bindi wrote yesterday: “Grandpa Crocodile, I know you would’ve been the most incredible grandfather because you were such an extraordinary dad.”