This is the second of a two-part series about the mysterious disappearance of Ben McDaniel, a certified open water SCUBA diver that has been missing since August 18, 2010. Today, we're covering the true scary story of deep cave diver Dave Shaw. A true story of death and survival in the world's most dangerous sport, cave diving. The employees of the dive shop were familiar with Ben McDaniel, and knew his reason for being on the premises was to dive the spring. [1], More detailed information regarding tanks was given in the Ben's Vortex documentary. Training status, safety rules violated, relevancy of the violations, and root causes leading to death were determined. 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. Through the years, McAniff, of Rhode Island, said he has seen the number of diving deaths decrease while the sport's popularity is on the rise. 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). He is thought to be part of the group that first found the boys on the Monday. Things hadnt been going so well for Ben recently and he needed some time to clear his head. Whether it's for sport or research reasons, cave diving is an extremely dangerous activity. They are adamant that he wouldnt do something so cruel to them. John decided to try and find the formation known as the Birth Canal, an incredibly narrow vertical passage. [22], By 2011, it seemed unlikely that Ben's body would be found in the cave. BlueTrin; Jan 18, 2020; 2 3 4. Nevertheless, police refused to treat it as a homicide, much to the dismay of Lynn-Marie Carty. "It would have affected his ability to breathe adequately.". Terrifyingly John then slid even further down into the passage and was trapped with his arms pinned under his chest. BBC World Service. The former owner, Lowell Kelly, was charged with driving an ex-employee into the woods and accused him of stealing money before beating him viciously with a baseball bat. Witnesses came forward to say they had encountered Ben on the evening of the 18th of August. About a week later concrete was poured into the main opening of the cave, sealing John inside forever. Cadaver dogs alerted on the water surface, further supporting that theory. Using investigative research combined with primary audio, Morbidology takes an in-depth look at true crime cases from all across the world. Updated: Jun 24, 2022 / 04:53 AM EDT. 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. Despite his woes, Ben had started to turn his life around. Authorities in Florida are investigating the deaths of two cave divers at a wildlife park, the Hernando County Sheriffs Office said. [10] At the entrance is a sign depicting the Grim Reaper which warns divers of the dangers of continuing onwards. Unsworth said the water was too murky to see and on June 25, Thai Navy SEALs tried the same . We were able to hold his hand at some point.". We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. The divers who recovered his body believed he was, however. 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. DAN Divers Alert Network; Deaths; epidemiology; recreational diving; root cause analysis; technical diving. Cookie Notice 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 . No one is known to have seen him since. They hired Steve Keene, who had originally mapped the Vortex Spring cave in 2003, to look. MeSH [2], McDaniel's dives at the site were regular enough that the dive shop employees and other frequent visitors came to know him. Hmmmm! His wallet, with almost $1,100 in cash, and cell phone were in the cab of his truck; dive logs showed that he had explored the cave and a map he made was also found. Diving instruction is offered for all levels; experienced divers come for the underwater wildlife and the cavern, which begins 58 feet (18m) below the surface. My gut feeling tells me someone closely involved with the last sighting of Mr. McDaniel knows more about his disappearance than they are letting on. 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. Unable to load your collection due to an error, Unable to load your delegates due to an error. When the two men came back up, they talked with one another and then dove back in, authorities said. [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. 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. "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. [22], Kelly remained comatose, and was eventually placed in hospice care, where he died the following month. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal 2015 Sep;45(3):147-53. Ben had endured a failed marriage and a bankrupted construction company that left him despondent. She realized that he had, in fact, gotten very far into the cave. 1:38. He was descending down towards the cave which starts 300 feet from the cavern. Undersea Hyperb Med. [2][1] Beginning at the gate, over 1,600 feet (490m) through the area's limestone bedrock have been mapped, to a depth of 310 feet (94m); the cave's full extent is unknown. That's right, the second most dangerous extreme sports by death rate statistics, cave diving. Data regarding trained cave divers were divided into two equal 15-year time periods. The grim mystery of where Ben is haunts the McDaniels family. National Library of Medicine [2][1], Relocating to the Gulf Coast allowed Ben to indulge in his preferred hobby, scuba diving. In 2004, Dave Shaw completed a record-breaking dive at Bushman's Hole. The juveniles believed the discussion was in regards to going back down into the cave and whether or not they had enough air in their tanks to complete their dive, the sheriffs office added. . 1 This location was perfect for Ben, who was an avid diver. They were eventually able to partially free him using a rope-pulley system. [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. [2] They agreed to put up $54,000 to guarantee the cost of replacing a remotely operated underwater vehicle brought to the spring by the Fort Lauderdale police, in case it was lost in the cave. As he watched Ben attempt to open the gate, he retrieved his own key and opened the gate, allowing Ben to swim though. government site. In February 2014 two divers died at a depth of more than 100m in a huge cave system in Norway. Consequently he was fined, and sentenced to seven years of probation. An experienced California diver who was helping with the exploration of the narrow underwater passageways that radiate from a well-known swimming hole . 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. Would you like email updates of new search results? They either succumbed to disease and hunger, or were murdered in gas chambers or were shot and killed. While investigating, she found some unsavoury characters associated with the Vortex Spring. Results: A total of 161 divers who died were identified, 67 trained cave divers and . In the 1990s, 13 divers perished in the cave. Disclaimer. "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." [2], They did, however, find some of his equipment. [2], On August 18, the Wednesday after he returned to the Santa Rosa Beach house, he went up to Vortex Spring again. In the morning, a different person came to Kelly's home, and realized his condition had worsened overnight. John decided to try and find the formation known as the Birth Canal, an incredibly narrow vertical passage. 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. On November 24, the group ventured into the Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking spot known for its tight twists, turns and crawls. The .gov means its official. 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 spelunker is somebody who explores caves as a hobby. 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. Eduardo Taran, however, was an experienced diver as well as an employee at Vortex Spring. On the 18th of August, 2010, Ben McDaniel dived into an underwater cave at Vortex Springs in Florida, never to be seen again. This article is about the scuba diver who went missing in 2010. A professional diver from Austin named Don Brod was brought out to see what he could do. The man escaped, and prosecutors later charged Kelly with assault and kidnapping in the incident. "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]. The oldest of three sons born to Shelby and Patty McDaniel, a wealthy couple who lived in Collierville, Tennessee, outside Memphis, he had returned to live with his parents after his marriage ended in divorce and his construction business failed, the latter leaving him with tax debts of almost $50,000 to the Internal Revenue Service and the state of Tennessee. "It's a really tight spot, but we've been able to get around him. This site needs JavaScript to work properly. #cave #cavediving #cavestory #disappearance #disappeared #diving #accidentOn August 18th, 2010, 30-year-old open water diver, Ben McDaniel, was last seen div. The tragedy began with the 1994 death of Deon Dreyer. 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 . By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 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. Was it an accident? Veteran Cave diver Brett Hemphill believes it was likely a painless death. 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. Scuba diving is a safe sport. A phone tip line they set up had not received any calls, and no one who had not yet said anything was likely to be further motivated to do so, they said. The incident was reported on Divernet, although at . [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. 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. Everyone was relieved but then there was a heartbreaking twist. 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 . The missing persons case remains open. "If I had to guess his son suffered from some horrible narcosis. #cave #cavediving #cavestory #disappearance #disappeared #diving #accidentOn August 18th, 2010, 30-year-old open water diver, Ben McDaniel, was last seen diving in the underwater cave at Vortex Spring in Ponce de Leon, Florida. Cave divers enter an inherently dangerous environment that often includes little visibility, maze-like passageways and a ceiling of rock that prevents a direct ascent to the surface in the event of a problem. [1][2], The cadaver dogs searched the woods around Vortex Spring without success. "If he's in there, I don't know where he'd be," he said later. He inched his way into the Birth Canal head first, wiggling forward using his hips, stomachs and fingers. 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. Neither of the divers had any obvious signs of trauma and both appeared to have the appropriate diving equipment. It's technical diving at its most technical. But this discovery struck some searchers as inconsistent with Ben's supposed intent to explore the cave he was technically not permitted to enter. After struggling to breathe for several hours, John became unresponsive shortly before midnight. 27-30. He was wearing a dive mask, fins, and a wet suit. The entrance to Nutty Putty Cave was boarded up and declared a public health hazard. While police had already searched the spring, there were certain passages that they refused to search because it was much too dangerous and they werent experienced enough. However, police would not name the individuals who had taken Kelly home and found him there in the morning. The cave diving death of Dave Shaw is a multilayered tragedy. He called his mother on his cell phone, the last contact he had with his family. "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. At the entrance to the cave is a sign depicting the Grim Reaper. The SEALs and other Thais inside hurried to clear Chamber 3. Cave diving is for the most adventurous of scuba divers. According to the BBC, local officials had given up . The 26-year-old was a medical student, father of one and an experienced spelunker, John Edward Jones died after getting trapped upside in a nightmarishly narrow cave passage in 2009, This diagram shows how John was firmly wedged upside down in a narrow passage, Nutty Putty Cave is located south of Salt Lake City, Utah, Rescuers worked for hours to try to pull John out to no avail, A memorial plaque to John stands near the entrance to Nutty Putty Cave. Stanton and Volanthen have worked together on . The Pair Have Been Involved in Other Rescues. . Med Sport Sci. They did see the truck the next morning. [1], Upon arrival, the sheriff's deputies sealed off the spring with crime-scene tape. 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 . Lowell Kelly, who had owned Vortex Spring since 2007, was facing criminal charges. "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. It considers all the theories regarding its subject's disappearance: an accident as originally believed, a murder or coverup of the accident as the McDaniels have sometimes alleged, and the possibility of a staged disappearance to allow Ben to escape his problems, which McClellan believes. Multiple divers searched through the weekend, but did not find Ben. May 26, 2022. Shortly after, the group of teens saw one of the divers floating face down and when they checked on him, received no response. Authorities identified the two divers as Todd Richard McKenna, 52, and Stephen Roderick Gambrell, 63. [19], There was no explicit evidence that Higginbotham was trying to find Ben and claim the reward. On a hot August night, Ben McDaniel attempted the adventure of a lifetime. He inched his way into the Birth Canal head first, wiggling forward using his hips, stomachs and fingers. A Warner Bros. In the middle of the day, he did one dive. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. At 46, Brod was a highly regarded diver, a gruff, opinionated man who as a boy in El Campo had swum along . Trained cave divers who died in the most recent time period were older but little else differed. 7. RAID continues to explain that the most common . DAN Annual Diving Report 2019 Edition: A report on 2017 diving fatalities, injuries, and incidents [Internet]. "I know what I'm doing and I barely made it through," he told the Commercial Appeal. Shane Thompson, an experienced scuba diver with a passion for cave explorations, died at the Blue Hole State Park when the 43-year-old father and husband got lost and trapped in an unmarked . 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. "Once John had been declared dead, there were discussions about 'How do we get him out?' It is unknown at this time if all the equipment was working properly, the sheriffs office added. I plan to make a longer video covering all of the different theories and all of the details I left out at a later time.I would like to also thank the YouTube Channels deepswim and dcainret for the fantastic footage of Vortex Spring I was able to use; including some of Ben and the initial recovery efforts.The footage used in this video come from the YouTube channels of:dcainret:https://www.youtube.com/user/dcainret/videosdeepswim:https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=deepswimVideo of Ben McDaniel inside of Vortex Spring:https://youtu.be/VbyoBlQtjNUVideo of the ROV:https://youtu.be/4QuxtejMUR0Songs: Emmit Fenn: CreepMaksym Bubyriev - Conspiracy Theory Short Version BEsther Abrami - No.8 Requiem\"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for \"fair use\" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. "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. Efforts to develop preventative interventions to address these hazards should continue. In 2004, Dave Shaw completed a record-breaking dive at Bushman's Hole. Larsa Pippen Is 'In Love' With Marcus Jordan And Swears Dad Michael Is Cool With Their Relationship! Jim Donaldson, a partner and manager at Big Blue Diving, a Koh Tao dive school, estimates that there were just six dive shops on the eight-square-mile island in 2000, a year after he arrived . Two tanks known to belong to McDaniel were found near the entrance to the cave. Assisted by helicopters, they searched the swamps along the spring's outflow into Blue Creek and Sandy Creek to the Choctawhatchee River. 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 . Simon Halliday, 49, from Clitheroe, Lancs, died at Lancaster Hole near Kirkby Lonsdale on 4 January, 2020. HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help This is the dark truth about cave diving. According to the . A few years ago there was a famous cave diving death, the disappearance of Ben McDaniel in Vortex Springs. "[1], In mid-August, four months into his Florida sojourn, Ben returned to Tennessee for a week. )[11] His parents later defended him from those criticisms by seeing them as positive traits. He was on a yacht in the Bahamas, leading an expedition. )[20], McDaniel was not the only person associated with Vortex Spring at the time facing serious legal issues. . [5], The following month, amid increasing criticism, the McDaniels rescinded the reward offer. He told them he was working on getting certified as an instructor so he could find a job and that he was researching cave diving with an eye toward getting that certification as well. An equipment failure caused the rope system to plunge John right back into the same gap he'd been trapped in previously, and the rescue operation was back to square one. Rescuers began a different approach, using air-powered tools to chip away at some of the rock surrounding John. [2][1], At Vortex Spring, which claims on its website to be the largest diving facility in the state,[8] divers descend into clear waters at a constant temperature of 68F (20C) fed by the Floridan Aquifer. DandyDon; May 18, 2022; 5 6 7. "I simply see no reasonable evidence that he is NOT in the cave," the Commercial Appeal quoted her as writing in an email. PMC Updated Her identity Would love your thoughts, please comment. A decade later, while on a dive at the same site, Shaw found Dreyer's missing body. 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