'Disappeared' at Vortex Incident?

[RebreatherPro.com]

Please excuse if this is in the wrong forum. There are early reports of a another missing diver at Vortex Spring. Any first hand information available? People are asking us, as we are producing a documentary film about Ben McDaniel, who disappeared in August 2010 and has never been recovered or seen since. There is also a TV program that will air tomorrow 3/19/2012 about Vortex. Just a very strange circumstance.

Thanks for any available clarification.
Robert and Jill

[sandy]

Not sure if this link to SB gives you any additional information or not.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/acc...18-2012-a.html

[JamesK]

Damn.

[RebreatherPro.com]

Damn.

+1 Our best to all involved.

[Jax]

Not just damn. Word also has it a diver has died at Ginnie.

Double Damn. Prayers to the recovery divers.

[cavewoman]

Not just damn. Word also has it a diver has died at Ginnie.

Double Damn. Prayers to the recovery divers.

This is true. I don't have details to share really (other than it was an open water diver), but I was about to start my dive at Ginnie when I saw the sherrif and tow truck to remove the divers vehicle. Very sad.

[Puttzer]

My wife and I did a lot of dives at Vortex prior to our full cave training. I was always stunned at the obvious luring of untrained divers into the system at Vortex.
There was a large pull rope and lights leading back into the cave.
Years ago they even had a chamber at 300' divers could come up and breathe old air and chitchat....
The visitors are clueless about the dangers.

That said: death is a terrible sadness.

[TJDiver]

My wife and I did a lot of dives at Vortex prior to our full cave training. I was always stunned at the obvious luring of untrained divers into the system at Vortex.
There was a large pull rope and lights leading back into the cave.
Years ago they even had a chamber at 300' divers could come up and breathe old air and chitchat....
The visitors are clueless about the dangers.

That said: death is a terrible sadness.

"Obvious" is an understatement...open invitation and urging is more like what we experienced. About a year before my Intro cert, my son and I visited Vortex during a family vacation. We just went to shoot some video in OW for my son's color absorption science project. When we signed in, we were invited by management (maybe owner?) to "check out the cave"...actually urged to check it out...all the way back to the gate. We informed him we were not trained for overhead environments, but he assured us that OW divers did it all the time, and that it was safe. My son and I have the good fortune to dive/train with a shop chocked full of tech/cave divers, and had had plenty of warning/advice about overhead environments at the time. I cringe at the thought of such invitations extended to those coming from less vigilant shops and training programs.

[JamesK]

Jax this is not good. I was hoping you mistyped on the other board. This is horrible.

[Jax]

Jax this is not good. I was hoping you mistyped on the other board. This is horrible.

I hope like HELL my information is wrong.