Bookshelf "It would have affected his ability to breathe adequately.". In addition to the accident and murder theories, the documentary also considers the possibility that Ben staged the disappearance to escape a troubled recent past that included a divorce and financial setbacks. At 46, Brod was a highly regarded diver, a gruff, opinionated man who as a boy in El Campo had swum along . After resurfacing he filled his tanks at the dive shop, a transaction recorded on security cameras (it is not known what he filled those tanks with). The man escaped, and prosecutors later charged Kelly with assault and kidnapping in the incident. 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. When authorities arrived, the diver was deceased, according to the sheriffs office. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. To this day, they havent given up hope that one day Ben, dead or alive, shall be found. There were some rather distasteful discussions as well, things that nobody really wanted to do," Sgt Cannon said. Despite living on the coast during his sabbatical, he preferred to dive in fresh water, becoming a frequent visitor to Vortex Spring, located inland a short distance north of Ponce de Leon. In addition, he incurred a hefty tax debt (est. The McDaniels have vehemently rejected that theory, pointing to the dog and girlfriend he left behind as well as doubting that he would have knowingly subjected them to that level of grief after seeing how his brother's death had affected them. Rescuers began a different approach, using air-powered tools to chip away at some of the rock surrounding John. He inched his way into the Birth Canal head first, wiggling forward using his hips, stomachs and fingers. Whether it's for sport or research reasons, cave diving is an extremely dangerous activity. 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 . Authorities in Florida are investigating the deaths of two cave divers at a wildlife park, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office said. 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. Seig Lu. Stemberga V, Petaros A, Rasic V, Azman J, Sosa I, Coklo M, Uhac I, Bosnar A. J Travel Med. He came to Vortex Springs the next day. News media in the Panhandle and Memphis followed the search closely. He had come to know Ben in the past couple of months. The McDaniel family hired Lynn-Marie Carty, a private investigator. Trained cave divers who died in the most recent time period were older but little else differed. Move on to the next theory. 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. BBC World Service. Home Bizarre Bizarre and Creepy Events The Missing Diver Ben McDaniel. "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. An overwhelming majority of the fatalities occurred in the state of Florida where many flooded caves are located. Methods: It was risky work, and one diver said they had nearly died during the search. CNN . Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies Dave Shaw was determined to bring this missing person's remains back to his family and set out on his final mission in 2005. 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. Veteran Cave diver Brett Hemphill believes it was likely a painless death. Ben Haddon-Cave, 27, whose sister Jessie Cave played Ron Weasley's girlfriend Lavender Brown in the films, had been out drinking with 26-year-old Paddy Bolster who also died in the tragedy. 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. Larsa Pippen Is 'In Love' With Marcus Jordan And Swears Dad Michael Is Cool With Their Relationship! . 2015 Sep;45(3):147-53. For the college football player and coach, see, Scuba diver who disappeared during or after a cave dive, Cave diving beyond the locked gate at Vortex Springs, bacteria that would indicate the presence of a decomposing human body, "Theories about Collierville diver's disappearance swirl in vortex of unanswered questions", "When a diver goes missing, a deep cave is scene of a deeper mystery", "Collierville parents pull reward for missing diver", "Article on Ben McDaniel Vortex Springs Case", "What Happened to Ben McDaniel? "I know what I'm doing and I barely made it through," he told the Commercial Appeal. Earlier that day, a diver had had a confrontation with several teenagers on the property about their drinking; they eventually left but may have come back in an attempt to exact revenge. One rescuer was able to get close enough to pronounce him dead of cardiac arrest. Stanton and Volanthen have worked together on . [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. The ex-employee managed to escape into the woods but was left so shaken that he moved his family out of town and swore he would never return. After determining that no one else had seen Ben, Taran called the Holmes County sheriff's office. "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. The authorities said it was too dangerous to retrieve their bodies, but four . A true story of death and survival in the world's most dangerous sport, cave diving. Paul was not being prescribed opiates. 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. That's right, the second most dangerous extreme sports by death rate statistics, cave diving. Armed with flashlights, they searched the spring. Many divers are adamant that Ben isnt inside the cave. There are millions of possible ways to die, some less pleasant than others. News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worlds leading global business publication [4] A reward they offered was rescinded in 2012 after the death of another diver who may have been trying to collect it, vindicating the criticism of the divers who had warned of that possibility and resented the McDaniels' insinuation that those who had searched for their son at great personal risk had not been "brave" enough.[5]. Data regarding trained cave divers were divided into two equal 15-year time periods. 1) Karen Thurston "Cave diver feared dead in accident" Tallahassee Democrat May 16, 1988. [1], Shelby does not believe Ben had any intention of abandoning his life. All divers are required to present proof of open-water certification and sign a release of liability. )[11] His parents later defended him from those criticisms by seeing them as positive traits. Normally, because cave diving is so dangerous, it's logical to think that he experienced an unfortunate accident while diving. October 23, 2022 7:16 pm. 3) Ed. Replies 62 Views . By that point John had been hanging upside down for more than eight hours. "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. It is unknown at this time if all the equipment was working properly, the sheriffs office added. 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. 4. "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]. "Once John had been declared dead, there were discussions about 'How do we get him out?' An experienced California diver who was helping with the exploration of the narrow underwater passageways that radiate from a well-known swimming hole . What happened next is enshrined in mystery. 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. 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. On the evening Ben disappeared, an inebriated Lowell showed up at the spring and asked if it was too late to go diving. He was descending down towards the cave which starts 300 feet from the cavern. [1] He died before the first year was completed. [1], In 2011 Kelly ameliorated the charges against him by pleading no contest. 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. 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. Everyone was relieved but then there was a heartbreaking twist. Cookie Notice But what happened to a keen young explorer deep in the bowels of Utah's famous cave system must surely take the cake as the worst death of all time. The mapped portion of the cave ends at a narrow restriction about 150 feet deep and 1,500 feet of mostly horizontal penetration, about the length of . There was no sign of a struggle at his car and his belongings were untouched, including $1,000 in cash. It's technical diving at its most technical. Unsworth said the water was too murky to see and on June 25, Thai Navy SEALs tried the same . Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited. A 10-year estimate of the incidence of decompression illness in a discrete group of recreational cave divers in Australia. 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. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. March 31, 2016 / 5:35 PM / AP. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. "If he's in there, I don't know where he'd be," he said later. The spring was closed and crime scene tape was tied from tree to tree while his disappearance was investigated. John's brother Josh was the first to find him, and tried pulling at his calves but was unsuccessful. Experience is the primary key to staying alive while cave diving, with the death rate increasing to 1/1003 for inexperienced divers. Today, we're covering the true scary story of deep cave diver Dave Shaw. 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. [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. They were eventually able to partially free him using a rope-pulley system. )[20], McDaniel was not the only person associated with Vortex Spring at the time facing serious legal issues. 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 . When the two men came back up, they talked with one another and then dove back in, authorities said. According to RAID, a top scuba training agency, the number one cause of serious injury or death in cave diving is not gear failure, getting lost, becoming trapped, or running out of air. On a hot August night, Ben McDaniel attempted the adventure of a lifetime. A memorial plaque to John stands near the entrance to Nutty Putty Cave, 12 years since the tragedy took place. [15], By Sunday, August 22, no other signs of Ben had been found. He has never been seen again. . A Warner Bros. Two men died while diving at Eagle's Nest sinkhole in Florida, Oct. 16, 2016. No one is known to have seen him since. Members of a specialized cave diving rescue team responded to the scene and found the second diver, also deceased, more than 130 feet below the surface, authorities said. Ben went into Vortex Spring on August 18th, 2010 and was never seen or heard from again. http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/when-a-diver-goes-missing-a-deep-cave-is-scene-of-a-deeper-mystery/1163972. 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 . He is thought to be part of the group that first found the boys on the Monday. Home. A professional diver from Austin named Don Brod was brought out to see what he could do. When their football practice ended on Saturday 23 June, 2018, the 12 members of Wild Boars decided to go cave exploring with assistant coach Ekkaphon . 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 . Replies 39 Views 2,017. On November 24, the group ventured into the Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking spot known for its tight twists, turns and crawls. The sheriffs office said the investigation into the deaths is ongoing. The sheriff's office also refused to release the autopsy report to the Northwest Florida Daily News despite its status as a public record under the Florida Sunshine Law; it claimed that release of the report would compromise an ongoing investigation. As the sun faded on the 19th of August, 2010, Ben walked down the narrow dock and slipped in the clear, warm, water of Vortex Spring. princeandprincessofwales. He was given an IV drip and some food and water, and was even able to speak to his wife over a police radio. 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. And that he is dead. [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. Efforts to develop preventative interventions to address these hazards should continue. Ben drowned in an unknown section of the cave, or inside of the fissure.2. 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 . Three tanks believed to belong to Ben were recovered. 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. Richard and fellow diver John Volanthen were the first divers to reach the stranded group in an underground network in Chiang Rai province ahead of their successful rescue. John's brother Josh was the first to find him, and tried pulling at his calves but was unsuccessful. HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) - Two cave divers are dead after an apparent drowning in Hernando County, at "Buford Springs Cave.". Josh had no choice but to leave his brother and work his way out of the cave where he called for help. $50,000), and still deeply affected by the 2008 death of his younger brother Paul from a stroke. 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. Marson Kay, 29, of Gainesville apparently became disoriented during a dive in Weeki Wachee's main spring and got wedged in an underwater cavern, authorities said. The following is a list of the 136 identified recorded fatalities associated with recreational caving in the UK. They hired Steve Keene, who had originally mapped the Vortex Spring cave in 2003, to look. He had a new girlfriend in Florida and had been talking about starting his own business. And a lot of times you become catatonic and just sit . The . They hoped to show it to the McDaniel family in the hopes of giving them a better understanding of the risks associated with cave diving, and "closure", as Heinerth put it. A private investigator they hired believes that his body may have been removed before any authorities were contacted, or that he may even have been murdered on land and the narrative of his disappearance fabricated as a cover story. "He just got himself in a pinch and couldn't find his way back out", said one of the divers who recovered the body. In February 2014 two divers died at a depth of more than 100m in a huge cave system in Norway. Manatee Springs SP cave fatality. [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. 2. In the late 2000s Ben McDaniel was going through a difficult period in his life. But after more than 24 hours trapped upside down, the pressure and stress on his body became too much. An estimated 92,000 people died at the camp, according to the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. McDaniel, who had been diving regularly at the spring while living in his parents' nearby beach house, had last been seen by two of those employees on the evening of August 18, on a dive entering a cave 58 feet (18m) below the water's surface. A segment of Investigation Discovery's Disappeared has been devoted to the case, as well as Ben's Vortex, a documentary co-directed by diver Jill Heinerth. "[1], The McDaniels did what they could to help the search. However, police would not name the individuals who had taken Kelly home and found him there in the morning. For more information, please see our But when John breathed in again, his chest expanded and he was wedged inside for good. A spelunker is somebody who explores caves as a hobby. )[16] In total, 16 divers spent 36 straight days looking for Ben's body in the cave with no results. (According to a 2014 online comment by his father, he could not find anyone at Vortex Spring willing to be his diving partner, so he did his dives alone. Emily was also expecting their second child at the time, a boy who was born the following year and named after his dad. Epub 2013 Jan 31. In 1991, an experienced cave diver named Parker Turner and his diving partner Bill Gavin were mapping caves in Indian Springs, a cavernous fresh water spring in the Florida Panhandle. Accessibility Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features! Join us for a scary storytime covering the true story of Dave Shaw. John left behind his wife Emily and their baby daughter Lizzie. Careers. 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