The spring was closed and crime scene tape was tied from tree to tree while his disappearance was investigated. )[11] His parents later defended him from those criticisms by seeing them as positive traits. Cave diving is perilous at the best of times but Tham Luang presents its own extreme challenges. On Saturday, June 23, 2018, 12 members of a local Thai football team, who were between the ages of 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach, entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave for a day . "He just got himself in a pinch and couldn't find his way back out", said one of the divers who recovered the body. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); document.getElementById("ak_js_2").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); My husband used to dive that. Belgian Ben Reymenants runs a dive shop in Phuket. Accessibility Whether it's for sport or research reasons, cave diving is an extremely dangerous activity. government site. They didnt want to risk their lives, understandably. Ben was murdered and his body disposed of.4. Everyone was relieved but then there was a heartbreaking twist. Some of the worst scuba accidents occur because of inexperienced divers making small mistakes. [2], Cronin and fellow employee Eduardo Taran, on their way back from a dive themselves something they often did on Wednesdays after the shop closed saw Ben as he began descending, with his lights on and wearing a helmet, suggesting he was venturing into the cave. And a lot of times you become catatonic and just sit . Ed Sorenson, an experienced diver who owns a dive shop, searched the spring scrupulously. Based on these circumstances, police and dive shop employees assumed that he had never resurfaced and had in all probability drowned somewhere in the cave trying to get out. [1] Undeterred, the McDaniels increased the award, twice. Investigative documents detailing the events surrounding a diver's death at Roaring River State Park show that multiple factors likely contributed to the drowning deep inside a cave . 7. When diving, you always have to be alert and aware of your surroundings. Undercurrent, 1988 . Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The McDaniel family hired Lynn-Marie Carty, a private investigator. Dave Shaw was determined to bring this missing person's remains back to his family and set out on his final mission in 2005. Would you like email updates of new search results? Deputies were alerted Wednesday afternoon after one of three teenagers who were spending the day at the Buford Springs Cave called 911, the sheriffs office said. Or, perhaps he had been found dead by the dive shop staff, who feared the consequences of that discovery. This is the theory that Bens parents believe the least. 2012;58:57-79. doi: 10.1159/000338582. Unquenchable heroism and complex human relationships amid the perils of extreme sport. One ex-navy diver, Saman Gunan, died in the cave last Friday. Only one returns. Rescuers began a different approach, using air-powered tools to chip away at some of the rock surrounding John. Unanswered Questions", "Mississippi Man Killed in Cave Diving Accident", "Questions remain about Lowell Kelly's death", "Parents of lost diver pin hopes for closure on team of dogs", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Disappearance_of_Ben_McDaniel&oldid=1104006595, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 August 2022, at 01:54. Disclaimer. 2) Steve Gerrard "We Lost Our Friend" NACO News May-June 1988, (20)3, pgs. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. [1], Some other events reported to have occurred on the day Ben disappeared supported that theory. 8600 Rockville Pike But after more than 24 hours trapped upside down, the pressure and stress on his body became too much. May 26, 2022. John Edward Jones, 26, was a medical student and experienced spelunker who went cave diving with a group of friends while visiting family in Utah for Thanksgiving in 2009. He is thought to be part of the group that first found the boys on the Monday. We and our partners use cookies on this site to improve our service, perform analytics, personalize advertising, measure advertising performance, and remember website preferences. One of the divers is believed to have mentioned that he possibly had a leak in his tank.. Rescuers from the Utah County Sheriff's Office arrived and began a complicated extraction attempt, made worse by the fact that John was in "absolutely the worst spot in the cave". While he was initially believed to have drowned on that dive, and his parents still strongly believe his body is in an inaccessible reach of the extensive cave system, no trace of him has ever been found. [2] That opinion, the Memphis Commercial Appeal later reported, was shared by posters on a scuba diving website, scubaboard.com, who had also met Ben during trips to Vortex Spring. Police assigned divers searched for Ben for days. Updated. John left behind his wife Emily and their baby daughter Lizzie. [15], By Sunday, August 22, no other signs of Ben had been found. The rescue mission became a body recovery operation, but it became apparent that it would simply be too dangerous to get John out of the passage. [22], Kelly remained comatose, and was eventually placed in hospice care, where he died the following month. We know our son to know he wouldnt put us through that again, said Patty, Bens mother. 2023 Cable News Network. Ben's tanks, wet suit and other diving equipment were not present and there were no signs of a struggle near his truck or anywhere else he could have been. Conclusion: June 23, 2022, 4:27 PM PDT. Despite his woes, Ben had started to turn his life around. The grim mystery of where Ben is haunts the McDaniels family. [1], She and McClellan turned their private video short into a feature-length documentary, Ben's Vortex, released in 2012. Lie detector test are easily beatable if you know how. The main causes of death have been drowning when cave diving, drowning as the result of flooding or negotiating deep water, injuries incurred from falling from a height, and injuries incurred as the result of rock falls.In ten cases the bodies have not been recovered. In the late 2000s Ben McDaniel was going through a difficult period in his life. Larsa Pippen Is 'In Love' With Marcus Jordan And Swears Dad Michael Is Cool With Their Relationship! The dive shop withheld the gate key, unless a diver showed proof of cave diving certification, which requires two months' training including 125 dives with an instructor or certified diving partner. Two days before the Investigation Discovery cable channel series Disappeared aired a segment on Ben's case, a diver from Biloxi, Mississippi, Larry Higginbotham, died in the cavern at Vortex Spring. They were eventually able to partially free him using a rope-pulley system. Without a body, closure is impossible. He was descending down towards the cave which starts 300 feet from the cavern. Four died in the hole ( . They are adamant that he wouldnt do something so cruel to them. New posts Search forums. He has never been seen again. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Seeing a massive great white shark ambushing Ben and dragging him off mid-sentence makes for a terrifying jolt, but the subsequent grey blur could hardly be called chilling. An experienced California diver who was helping with the exploration of the narrow underwater passageways that radiate from a well-known swimming hole . If Edd Sorenson says Bens not in the cave, hes not there. The most common cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning, preceded by running out of breathing gas, usually after getting lost owing to a loss of visibility caused by suspended silt. Cookie Notice Man, 50, who sold guns to gangsters across Britain jailed for 19 years, Police accused of spending just ONE day a week fighting crime, Parole DENIED for Robert F. 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Ten people, including two who were found Monday, have had fatal incidents inside the Eagle's Nest cave dive area in Western Florida since 1981. By that point John had been hanging upside down for more than eight hours. The Pair Have Been Involved in Other Rescues. Some theorise that something more sinister happened to Ben: that he was murdered. Warning: Do not read this story if you're claustrophobic. They hired a Florida private investigator, Lynn-Marie Carty, who found that other people associated with Vortex Spring besides Kelly had criminal records. [2], On some nights when they had seen Ben dive late, the two had stayed at the spring after resurfacing until they saw bubbles on the surface, indicating that he was beginning to decompress in order to safely resurface. They either succumbed to disease and hunger, or were murdered in gas chambers or were shot and killed. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features! On November 24, the group ventured into the Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking spot known for its tight twists, turns and crawls. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted We were able to hold his hand at some point.". [1], In 2011 Kelly ameliorated the charges against him by pleading no contest. He followed his passions. Hmmmm! reopened in 2003 amid pressure from the National Association for Cave Divers and the National Speleological Society Cave Diving . The water was rising up the cave wall, and Rob returned through the rapidly filling S-bend, so he wouldn't get trapped without diving gear. Armed with flashlights, they searched the spring. Knowing that divers in trouble will often burrow deeper into narrow crevices such as those within the cave in a mistaken effort to get back to the surface, she revised her opinion. 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"It would have affected his ability to breathe adequately.". 186. Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited. On August 20, 2010, Ben McDaniel (born April 15, 1980), of Memphis, Tennessee, United States, was reported missing after employees in the dive shop at Vortex Spring, north of Ponce de Leon, Florida, noticed that his pickup truck had remained in the shop's parking lot for the previous two days.McDaniel, who had been diving regularly at the spring while living in his parents' nearby beach house . Consequently he was fined, and sentenced to seven years of probation. [2], They did, however, find some of his equipment. 2015 Sep;45(3):147-53. princeandprincessofwales. 1) Karen Thurston "Cave diver feared dead in accident" Tallahassee Democrat May 16, 1988. About a week later concrete was poured into the main opening of the cave, sealing John inside forever. 1:38. The tragedy began with the 1994 death of Deon Dreyer. There are millions of possible ways to die, some less pleasant than others. [2][1] Later, it was revealed that Paul's cause of death was "anoxic encephalopathy due to combined drug (opiate/benzodiazepine) toxicity", [6] a drug overdose, not a stroke. All divers are required to present proof of open-water certification and sign a release of liability. John's brother Josh was the first to find him, and tried pulling at his calves but was unsuccessful. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies To me, the disappearance of Ben McDaniel is cave diving's greatest mystery. Vortex Spring is a popular vacation destination hours away from the hustle and bustle of Orlando and Disney World. Data regarding trained cave divers were divided into two equal 15-year time periods. [4] (Due to technical issues, it was unable to go any farther than the human divers had ventured. While underwa. A few years ago there was a famous cave diving death, the disappearance of Ben McDaniel in Vortex Springs. Other than the two tanks, there was no sign of Ben: no dive mask, no fins, no wet suit, no body. [7], The McDaniels suggested their son take a sabbatical, offering to support him financially while he and his dog, a chocolate Labrador he had rescued, lived in the family's beach home at Santa Rosa Beach on the Emerald Coast of the Florida Panhandle. The SEALs and other Thais inside hurried to clear Chamber 3. Taran, who said he had let Ben into the cave despite knowing he lacked certification to dive in it, passed a lie detector test of his account. Using investigative research combined with primary audio, Morbidology takes an in-depth look at true crime cases from all across the world. BBC World Service. That being said, cave diving comes with heightened risk. There was no sign of a struggle at his car and his belongings were untouched, including $1,000 in cash. The authorities said it was too dangerous to retrieve their bodies, but four . He inched his way into the Birth Canal head first, wiggling forward using his hips, stomachs and fingers. His only option was to keep moving forward, and exhaled the air from his chest so he could fit through the "L-shaped pinpoint" which was just 10 inches across and 18 inches high. Jill Heinerth says Dan's Cave on Abaco Island, Bahamas, is her "favorite cave on Earth." Diver and photographer Jill Heinerth has explored unmapped, underwater caves deep in the earth, as well as . Replies 39 Views 2,017. Warning: the attached video shows Shaw's personal camera footage from the moments leading up to his death, and they are unpleasant. Three teen swimmers led deputies to the bodies of two divers who drowned at Buford Springs in Florida last week Hernando County Sheriff's Office. Experience is the primary key to staying alive while cave diving, with the death rate increasing to 1/1003 for inexperienced divers. [2], Reports of a missing diver in the Vortex Spring cave spread and other cave divers volunteered for what they assumed would be a recovery operation, taking advantage of the weekend. [2], Frustrated by the limitations the search had thus far encountered, and increasingly coming to believe that Ben's body was in an area of the cave no one had yet reached, the McDaniels offered a reward of $10,000, raised from money contributed at a benefit held on what would have been their son's 31st birthday, at the end of the year to anyone "brave" enough to go to those places and find it. The McDaniels were called, and they drove to Florida, along with Greer, to observe from the shore. The McDaniels devoted their family's extensive financial resources to the search, at one point guaranteeing the replacement cost of a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). In the 1990s, 13 divers perished in the cave. Ben's death is the first kill in 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, and while it is an effective jump scare, the scene loses points among horror movie aficionados for its murky lighting. Eduardo later passed a lie detector test. [1][2], The cadaver dogs searched the woods around Vortex Spring without success. 106,986 likes. While Ben frequented the spring, he never received sufficient training and wasnt considered an experienced diver. Results: A 10-year estimate of the incidence of decompression illness in a discrete group of recreational cave divers in Australia. That's right, the second most dangerous extreme sports by death rate statistics, cave diving. RAID continues to explain that the most common . [5], The following month, amid increasing criticism, the McDaniels rescinded the reward offer. The missing persons case remains open. What happened next is enshrined in mystery. MIAMI The former owners of a Florida Keys dive shop whose boat was in such poor condition that it capsized and sank, killing a tourist, pleaded guilty last week . "[1], The McDaniels did what they could to help the search. Privacy Policy. He's not in there. He was given an IV drip and some food and water, and was even able to speak to his wife over a police radio. HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) - Two cave divers are dead after an apparent drowning in Hernando County, at "Buford Springs Cave.". At 46, Brod was a highly regarded diver, a gruff, opinionated man who as a boy in El Campo had swum along . A massive rescue expedition was launched to pull out a man trapped in one of Utah's narrowest caves, but heartbreakingly John Edward Jones was unable to be saved and his body is still inside, Don't miss a thing! "He was found near a shovel left near a restriction so small that no one could get through it," said Sorenson, who had pulled Higginbotham's body back through four tight restrictions. [2], On August 18, the Wednesday after he returned to the Santa Rosa Beach house, he went up to Vortex Spring again. Whatever the final cause of death, whichever of the million things a real cave diver knows can go wrong and kill you, which an open water diver has no idea . "Due to the circumstances with his body being held the way it was and being wedged, it was most likely difficult to get a full deep breath," Sgt Cannon said. [2] The insinuation of cowardice alienated divers who had already risked their lives searching the cave,[17] and raised fears among them that it would only encourage untrained divers to enter the cave and take potentially fatal risks for the reward money. Methods: Reports of cave diving fatality cases occurring between 01 July 1985 and 30 June 2015 collected by Divers Alert Network were reviewed. Training status, safety rules violated, relevancy of the violations, and root causes leading to death were determined. Even experienced ones have died there. He was on a yacht in the Bahamas, leading an expedition. $50,000), and still deeply affected by the 2008 death of his younger brother Paul from a stroke. I did a search for it but didn't find anything posted..the fact of not knowing if he ever came out of the cave or not is what I find most compelling. He said the muddy current . . The divers who recovered his body believed he was, however. While the annual number of cave diving fatalities has steadily fallen over the last three decades, from eight to less than three, the proportion of trained divers among those fatalities has doubled. Without cave diving training, Sorenson said, there was no way Ben could have gotten through some of the narrower passages, called restrictions by divers, in the cave. According to CaveDivers.com.au, 368 cave divers died between 1969 and 2007. [2], Ben was 6feet 1inch (185cm) tall and weighed 210 pounds (95kg), one inch (2.5cm) taller and 20 pounds (9.1kg) heavier than Sorenson. It was concluded that these tanks had been left behind by Ben. The cave steadily narrows, reaching a makeshift rebar gate with a chain and padlock, at a point almost 300 feet (91m) from the entrance. The father-of-one's tragic mistake was thinking he could squeeze into the same spaces as a six-foot man than he did when he was a lot younger and smaller. There were some rather distasteful discussions as well, things that nobody really wanted to do," Sgt Cannon said. John Edward Jones, 26, was a medical student and experienced spelunker (someone who explores caves as a hobby) who went cave diving with a group of friends while visiting family in Utah for Thanksgiving in 2009.. On November 24, the group ventured into the Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking spot known for . Ben Died and his body was removed as to not cause too much bad press for the spring.3. On his nights out with Greer, he told her of plans to eventually start a diving-related business. "Not only did it endanger the lives of divers who would risk going farther than they should," said Sorenson, who was by then even more firmly convinced that their son had not died in the cave, "it put all of our lives at risk because we have to go in to recover the bodies." About a week later concrete was poured into the main opening of the cave, sealing John inside forever. In 2014, two cave divers died at a depth of more than 300 feet while exploring an ice-cold underwater cave system in the Plurdalen valley in central Norway. But within minutes he realised he was stuck, with no room to turn around or even go backwards. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Dive-related fatalities among tourist and local divers in the northern Croatian littoral (1980-2010). "The last place I searched was pristine, without a mark that a diver had been there. Simon Halliday, 49, from Clitheroe, Lancs, died at Lancaster Hole near Kirkby Lonsdale on 4 January, 2020. As he watched Ben attempt to open the gate, he retrieved his own key and opened the gate, allowing Ben to swim though. Deon Dreyer was a South African recreational scuba diver who died in Bushman's Hole, or also known as Boesmansgat cave, in South Africa's Northern Cape. Move on to the next theory. [12] He spent much of the rest of the afternoon by himself alongside the spring, witnesses said, testing equipment and making notes in his dive log. The man escaped, and prosecutors later charged Kelly with assault and kidnapping in the incident. Afterwards, she and her husband Robert McClellan, both certified cave divers and documentary filmmakers, went to Vortex Spring to make a short video. "If I had to guess his son suffered from some horrible narcosis. There were some rather distasteful discussions as well, things that nobody really wanted to do," Sgt Cannon said. Three tanks believed to belong to Ben were recovered. Replies 62 Views . Over the forthcoming years, experienced divers continued to search the spring for any sign of Ben at the request of his parents who had offered a reward. He wriggled through minuscule crevices that Ben (who stood at 61) would have been much too large to fit through but he was determined to search every single inch of the cave system. "Ultimately the decision was made that it was too much risk for the rescuers to remain there in an effort to get him out and the decision was made to leave him in place.". )[20], McDaniel was not the only person associated with Vortex Spring at the time facing serious legal issues. Keywords: Witnesses came forward to say they had encountered Ben on the evening of the 18th of August. A memorial plaque to John stands near the entrance to Nutty Putty Cave, 12 years since the tragedy took place. Cadaver dogs picked up a scent along the bank of the spring as well as one in the water but when county health departments sampled the water, they found no indication of a spike in bacteria consistent with decomposition. One of the experienced divers who searched for Ben, Kevin Carlisle, explained: We may never know the truth of where he is, but we do know where he isnt and that is because of a lot of talented and qualified divers. As they searched the tiny passages, there was no sign of human activity. GO NO FARTHER. -- Two cave divers in Florida were found dead after they were reported missing over the weekend, according to police . Something went wrong, please try again later. Things hadnt been going so well for Ben recently and he needed some time to clear his head. Unable to load your collection due to an error, Unable to load your delegates due to an error. [1], At the Santa Rosa Beach house officers found his dog, hungry from having been unfed for two days. [14] The talk box, originally located in the Piano Room of the cave, was moved to the basin area of Vortex Springs and is now at a depth of only 21 feet (6.4m). 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