An inquest has heard how a cave-diver in Cumbria drowned close to the surface early last year, after a problem was thought to have occurred with his rebreather, a unit under development. Epub 2012 Jul 18. [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. Discovery Company. Ben wasnt an experienced diver thus he had no key. A few years ago there was a famous cave diving death, the disappearance of Ben McDaniel in Vortex Springs. princeandprincessofwales. Josh had no choice but to leave his brother and work his way out of the cave where he called for help. [13] Experienced divers scoured the cave, investigating small crevices and fissures Ben might have entered in a panicked attempt to exit the cave, as his tanks ran low, a pattern found in other cave diving deaths. 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. He was given an IV drip and some food and water, and was even able to speak to his wife over a police radio. Four died in the hole ( . . All Rights Reserved. As the sun faded on the 19 th of August, 2010, Ben walked down the narrow dock and slipped in the clear, warm, water of Vortex Spring. "He's not in great shape physically, there's a lot of pressure on his upper body and back but he's been amazingly resilient and he has incredibly high spirits under the circumstances," Sgt Spencer Cannon said at the time. According to CaveDivers.com.au, 368 cave divers died between 1969 and 2007. As he watched Ben attempt to open the gate, he retrieved his own key and opened the gate, allowing Ben to swim though. After struggling to breathe for several hours, John became unresponsive shortly before midnight. Cave divers usually place extra "air" tanks, needed for decompression, at points along their exit route so they can follow them out, and not only at the entrance to the cave. 0:00. He inched his way into the Birth Canal head first, wiggling forward using his hips, stomachs and fingers. Efforts to develop preventative interventions to address these hazards should continue. Keywords: [2], Sorenson, who has been described by the Tampa Bay Times as being able to go where other divers cannot,[2] persisted. There were no marks on the limestone where a divers helmet or tank would have scraped the cave ceiling. He had allegedly taken a temporary employee who he said owed him thousands of dollars out into an isolated wooded area and attempted to beat him with a baseball bat to make him pay up. It contains a warning to divers of the consequences of diving past that point: PREVENT YOUR DEATH. Warning: the attached video shows Shaw's personal camera footage from the moments leading up to his death, and they are unpleasant. Some theorise that something more sinister happened to Ben: that he was murdered. 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. [15], By Sunday, August 22, no other signs of Ben had been found. But within minutes he realised he was stuck, with no room to turn around or even go backwards. "It's very narrow, very awkward, and it's difficult to get rescuers down there," rescuer Shawn Roundy told media at the time. According to the BBC, local officials had given up . 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. In the morning, a different person came to Kelly's home, and realized his condition had worsened overnight. When authorities arrived, the diver was deceased, according to the sheriffs office. On the evening Ben disappeared, an inebriated Lowell showed up at the spring and asked if it was too late to go diving. This policy was instituted after the deaths of 13 divers in the cave during the 1990s, and in response to threats from the state to ban diving in the cave entirely. All contained normal air, not a specialized gas mix. Cave diver suffered worst death imaginable after getting trapped upside down. 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 . [1], More detailed information regarding tanks was given in the Ben's Vortex documentary. The cave is located in the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Park in Weeki Wachee, roughly an hour north of Tampa. In Ron Howard's "Thirteen Lives," out Friday on Prime Video, Viggo Mortensen plays Rick Stanton, a British cave diver who recounts his rescue of a Thai boys soccer team from a monsoon-flooded cave. Nevertheless, police refused to treat it as a homicide, much to the dismay of Lynn-Marie Carty. $50,000), and still deeply affected by the 2008 death of his younger brother Paul from a stroke. In the late 2000s Ben McDaniel was going through a difficult period in his life. John decided to try and find the formation known as the Birth Canal, an incredibly narrow vertical passage. Stanton and Volanthen have worked together on . 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. 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. Only one returns. A decade later, while on a dive at the same site, Shaw found Dreyer's missing body. 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. June 23, 2022, 4:27 PM PDT. [22], By 2011, it seemed unlikely that Ben's body would be found in the cave. The spring remains a pleasant 68 degrees year round and boasts of thousands of tourists who flock to the spring for camping, swimming and of course, diving. Unable to load your collection due to an error, Unable to load your delegates due to an error. BBC World Service. In fact, he owed the IRS $48, 861. Neither of the divers had any obvious signs of trauma and both appeared to have the appropriate diving equipment. The spring consists of a 200ft basin which leads to an underground cave system. While divers couldnt find Ben, they did find two decompression tanks which are left by divers as they ascend to avoid decompression sickness. Terrifyingly John then slid even further down into the passage and was trapped with his arms pinned under his chest. 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 . A 10-year estimate of the incidence of decompression illness in a discrete group of recreational cave divers in Australia. "Ben was brave," his father later said. An official website of the United States government. Accessibility 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 . [2], In March 2012, the McDaniels arranged for cadaver dogs to search the area of the springs again, but with no results. The missing persons case remains open. Cave diving is for the most adventurous of scuba divers. A true story of death and survival in the world's most dangerous sport, cave diving. By Johnny Diaz. It was "discovered" by Jim Bowden and Ann Kristovich on a reconnaissance trip made at the end of two weeks of exploration and surveying in the Nacimiento Santa Clara, a cave system at the . Ben drowned in an unknown section of the cave, or inside of the fissure.2. Emily was also expecting their second child at the time, a boy who was born the following year and named after his dad. Ben was last seen by two Vortex Spring (VS) employees at the gate blocking untrained and non-certified divers from entering the most dangerous parts of the cave. Privacy Policy. RAID continues to explain that the most common . And a lot of times you become catatonic and just sit . [10] At some points, the passage narrows to 10 inches (25cm), requiring divers to remove their tanks, push them forward through the passage, and then twist their bodies to follow. He has never been seen again. [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. 2012;58:57-79. doi: 10.1159/000338582. He's not in there. Richard William Stanton (R) speaks to John Volanthen (L back to camera) at the Tham Luang cave area. Josh had no choice but to leave his brother and work his way out of the cave, where he called for help. Ben must have gone deeper than anyone expected. Some of the worst scuba accidents occur because of inexperienced divers making small mistakes. The British cave diver who led the rescue of the Thai boys' soccer team and personally saved the captain, Duangpetch Promthep, has opened up about the heartbreaking death of the 17-year-old. [1], In 2011 Kelly ameliorated the charges against him by pleading no contest. For those who are willing to push boundaries to the absolute limits. Shelby also noted that Ben had seen the impact Paul's death had had on his parents. While investigating, she found some unsavoury characters associated with the Vortex Spring. 2015 Sep;45(3):147-53. He accepted the offer and moved into the house in April 2010. On November 24, the group ventured into the Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking spot known for its tight twists, turns and crawls. [5], The following month, amid increasing criticism, the McDaniels rescinded the reward offer. Last modified on Fri 14 Jul 2017 15.42 EDT. 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. 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. An experienced California diver who was helping with the exploration of the narrow underwater passageways that radiate from a well-known swimming hole in eastern New . 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. But when John breathed in again, his chest expanded and he was wedged inside for good. The teens, who arrived at the park earlier that morning, had talked with the two divers before the men got into the water, authorities said. Move on to the next theory. He is thought to be part of the group that first found the boys on the Monday. 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. Ben Died and his body was removed as to not cause too much bad press for the spring.3. "He just got himself in a pinch and couldn't find his way back out", said one of the divers who recovered the body. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. He inched his way into the Birth Canal head first, wiggling forward using his hips, stomachs and fingers. Many divers are adamant that Ben isnt inside the cave. He found nothing no body, and no evidence of one such as increased activity by carnivorous aquatic scavengers, nor any evidence that Ben had gotten into those sections, such as marks on the cave walls or disturbed silt. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Maltese soldier dies in diving incident off Marr ix-Xini. Using investigative research combined with primary audio, Morbidology takes an in-depth look at true crime cases from all across the world. His diving career started back in 1995 in the Pacific Northwest that sparked a new passion for the world beneath the water's surface. He had first taken it up at the age of 15, practicing with his tanks in the family pool. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Taran, who had suspected for some time that Ben was forcing the gate open, went down to him and unlocked it, watching Ben go in and then returning to Cronin. Was it an accident? [9], For the most experienced divers, some of whom come from around the world, the main attraction of Vortex Spring is the cave, which starts 300 feet (91m) from the cavern, at a depth of 115 feet (35m). "After what we went through with Paul, we know our son well enough to know he wouldn't put us through that again," his mother told the Commercial Appeal.[1]. BBC World Service. That's practically a death sentence when you're scuba diving, so always be careful. He was wearing a dive mask, fins, and a wet suit. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. In the 1990s, 13 divers perished in the cave. Perhaps his body had been secretly removed from the cave before searching began and disposed of on land or it had washed out through the spring's outlet. On August 18th 2010, Ben McDaniel, a 30 year old scuba diver, vanished 115ft underwater in the cave at Vortex Spring, in Ponce De Leon, FL. Lengthy searches have only located some anomalously placed and filled decompression tanks; many of the divers who took part in those searches believe that if McDaniel is indeed dead, his body is not in the cave as he was too large to enter its narrower passages. But after more than 24 hours trapped upside down, the pressure and stress on his body became too much. The state barred entrance to the sinkhole in 1999, reported the Tampa Bay Times, and it was later reopened in 2003 amid pressure from the National Association for Cave Divers and the National . The cave steadily narrows, reaching a makeshift rebar gate with a chain and padlock, at a point almost 300 feet (91m) from the entrance. By Phil Helsel. Normally you had to have a buddy system before you was allowed to get the group I never knew them to allow a single diver go on their own. In the middle of the day, he did one dive. 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. The cave diving death of Dave Shaw is a multilayered tragedy. An avid diver since his teens, he had been a regular at the spring, where he had apparently been covertly exploring the cave despite lacking the required certification. Ben had found Paul unconscious in the family home and tried to revive him; he later became active in raising money for the foundation his parents established to support research into prevention and treatment of strokes. Assisted by helicopters, they searched the swamps along the spring's outflow into Blue Creek and Sandy Creek to the Choctawhatchee River. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. While underwater, he discovered the body of missing Deon Dreyer, who had passed away in the cave ten years before Dave's dive. reopened in 2003 amid pressure from the National Association for Cave Divers and the National Speleological Society Cave Diving . MeSH This is the theory that Bens parents believe the least. One ex-navy diver, Saman Gunan, died in the cave last Friday. What happened next is enshrined in mystery. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Dive-related fatalities among tourist and local divers in the northern Croatian littoral (1980-2010). While Ben frequented the spring, he never received sufficient training and wasnt considered an experienced diver. Training status, safety rules violated, relevancy of the violations, and root causes leading to death were determined. Data regarding trained cave divers were divided into two equal 15-year time periods. What happened next is enshrined in mystery. [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. Jimlast-minute fill-in, Support Diver Number Six, mere mortal among godshas rescued the boys' coach, the monk who had done the impossible, too: kept 12 children alive in a flooded cave . No one is known to have seen him since. Last month, Larry Higginbotham, 43, of Biloxi, Miss., drowned inside the cave at Vortex. Undercurrent, 1988 . They are adamant that he wouldnt do something so cruel to them. [19], There was no explicit evidence that Higginbotham was trying to find Ben and claim the reward. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Vortex Spring is a popular vacation destination hours away from the hustle and bustle of Orlando and Disney World. However, you might think that when 2 workers left for coffee without waiting for Ben, he couldRead more . Updated 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. "It would have affected his ability to breathe adequately.". The Holmes County sheriff's office, which had also been the lead agency investigating the McDaniel disappearance, implied that it had not gotten the full story of what had occurred the night of Kelly's injury and that it had some questions it wanted answered. [21], During a chili cook-off he was hosting at Vortex Spring in December, Kelly reportedly fell down the stairs and sustained a head injury. After determining that no one else had seen Ben, Taran called the Holmes County sheriff's office. He had left his dog in Santa Rosa Beach and had not given Greer any indication of such plans. . #cave #cavediving #cavestory #disappearance #disappeared #diving #accidentOn August 18th, 2010, 30-year-old open water diver, Ben McDaniel, was last seen div. Cookie Notice Despite his woes, Ben had started to turn his life around. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features! It would be impossible to go through that restriction without making a mark on the floor or ceiling. Simon Halliday, 49, from Clitheroe, Lancs, died at Lancaster Hole near Kirkby Lonsdale on 4 January, 2020. He called his mother on his cell phone, the last contact he had with his family. 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