Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}304617N 855653W / 30.77149N 85.94812W / 30.77149; -85.94812, 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. 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. Discovery Company. What happened next is enshrined in mystery. His parents and girlfriend say the move was proving beneficial, as Ben was beginning to think and talk about moving on from his recent personal setbacks. Clipboard, Search History, and several other advanced features are temporarily unavailable. "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.". [1], She and McClellan turned their private video short into a feature-length documentary, Ben's Vortex, released in 2012. Authorities in Florida are investigating the deaths of two cave divers at a wildlife park, the Hernando County Sheriffs Office said. He continued Continue Reading Sheriff's deputies were called about 12:20 p.m. Wednesday to what . He slipped beneath the clear waters of Vortex Spring, with one goal in mind: to make a name for himself in the extreme world of cave diving. Josh had no choice but to leave his brother and work his way out of the cave, where he called for help. MeSH Methods: Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.\"00:00 Intro00:35 Chapter 1: Ben McDaniel04:17 Chapter 2: Vortex Spring11:04 Chapter 3: The Search17:27 Chapter 4: The Search Continues24:56 Chapter 5: Lowell Kelly27:49 Aftermath After determining that no one else had seen Ben, Taran called the Holmes County sheriff's office. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Rescuers began a different approach, using air-powered tools to chip away at some of the rock surrounding John. All divers are required to present proof of open-water certification and sign a release of liability. 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. 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. He inched his way into the Birth Canal head first, wiggling forward using his hips, stomachs and fingers. An overwhelming majority of the fatalities occurred in the state of Florida where many flooded caves are located. A memorial plaque to John stands near the entrance to Nutty Putty Cave. reopened in 2003 amid pressure from the National Association for Cave Divers and the National Speleological Society Cave Diving . "If he's in there, I don't know where he'd be," he said later. And a lot of times you become catatonic and just sit . 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. Training status, safety rules violated, relevancy of the violations, and root causes leading to death were determined. 2011 Jul-Aug;38(4):257-60. The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They hired Steve Keene, who had originally mapped the Vortex Spring cave in 2003, to look. In 2008, the McDaniel family suffered a tragedy when their youngest son, Paul, died from a stroke. He made three separate dives that day,[1] going (by his account) 1,700 feet (520m) into the cave, 200 feet (61m) further than those sections Ben had mapped, using a diver propulsion vehicle and smaller tanks to increase his range. 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 . Police assigned divers searched for Ben for days. 2. Introduction: [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. Only one returns. Ben decided to fake his own death, and is still alive somewhere.More than a decade later, the truth of what happened to Ben McDaniel still isn't known.Disclaimer: I had tested positive for covid this week and was in the middle of getting symptoms while recording the videoso it's a little rough, but there was no way I was going to wait to post this story. Mr Budd was right as among the horrific cave diving stories since 1973, is that of 26-year-old medical student John Edward Jones who became stuck in Utah in 2009. A decade later, while on a dive at the same site, Shaw found Dreyer's missing body. Cookie Notice That's right, the second most dangerous extreme sports by death rate statistics, cave diving. Two cave divers died in a possible drowning in Florida, authorities said Thursday. The McDaniels began considering the possibility that he had died as a result of foul play, and that his diving disappearance was staged to cover up a crime. However, you might think that when 2 workers left for coffee without waiting for Ben, he couldRead more . The entrance to Nutty Putty Cave was boarded up and declared a public health hazard. Here is another one from "Disappeared". On the evening Ben disappeared, an inebriated Lowell showed up at the spring and asked if it was too late to go diving. [2], In March 2012, the McDaniels arranged for cadaver dogs to search the area of the springs again, but with no results. 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. Tank one, an "aluminum 80" (80 cubic ft capacity), full tank with a regulator, was found 200 feet (61m) inside the cave. [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. This is the dark truth about cave diving. "It's a really tight spot, but we've been able to get around him. [1], With the cave thoroughly searched, some divers began questioning whether Ben was there at all. An official website of the United States government. A decades-old mystery surrounding the death of a Florida cave diver has been solved by a simple experiment by three scientists in a lab at Florida State. When the footage was reviewed, his team realized that Dave had captured his last moments underwater attempting to free Deon Dreyer from the depths of the cave. 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. "The last place I searched was pristine, without a mark that a diver had been there. The spring consists of a 200ft basin which leads to an underground cave system. Efforts to develop preventative interventions to address these hazards should continue. 2023 Cable News Network. John left behind his wife Emily and their baby daughter Lizzie. Home Bizarre Bizarre and Creepy Events The Missing Diver Ben McDaniel. Emily was also expecting their second child at the time, a boy who was born the following year and named after his dad. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Things hadnt been going so well for Ben recently and he needed some time to clear his head. princeandprincessofwales. Cave diver suffered worst death imaginable after getting trapped upside down. I also break down the different theories that are circulating around Ben's disappearance.The top 4 theories are:1. The incident was reported on Divernet, although at . "It's very narrow, very awkward, and it's difficult to get rescuers down there," rescuer Shawn Roundy told media at the time. Emily was also expecting their second child at the time, a boy who was born the following year and named after his dad. Before [2][1], Relocating to the Gulf Coast allowed Ben to indulge in his preferred hobby, scuba diving. The man escaped, and prosecutors later charged Kelly with assault and kidnapping in the incident. This was the last time Ben was ever seen. [5] (Ben's father elaborated the following year that the family was told to rescind the reward while in the Vortex Spring area for exactly this reason. His diving career started back in 1995 in the Pacific Northwest that sparked a new passion for the world beneath the water's surface. This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Replies 39 Views 2,017. Prevent your death!' said sign at Florida underwater cave. 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". 2015 Sep;45(3):147-53. Move on to the next theory. Home. HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help 7. It's technical diving at its most technical. 3) Ed. "I simply see no reasonable evidence that he is NOT in the cave," the Commercial Appeal quoted her as writing in an email. "[1], In mid-August, four months into his Florida sojourn, Ben returned to Tennessee for a week. 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 . Ed Sorenson, an experienced diver who owns a dive shop, searched the spring scrupulously. Everyone was relieved but then there was a heartbreaking twist. He was given an IV drip and some food and water, and was even able to speak to his wife over a police radio. One of the divers is believed to have mentioned that he possibly had a leak in his tank.. Three tanks believed to belong to Ben were recovered. Or something more sinister. His parents and girlfriend, Emily Greer, said he seemed optimistic. Vortex Spring is a popular vacation destination hours away from the hustle and bustle of Orlando and Disney World. A few years ago there was a famous cave diving death, the disappearance of Ben McDaniel in Vortex Springs. Shortly after, the group of teens saw one of the divers floating face down and when they checked on him, received no response. Richard William Stanton (R) speaks to John Volanthen (L back to camera) at the Tham Luang cave area. 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. 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. Bookshelf 2) Steve Gerrard "We Lost Our Friend" NACO News May-June 1988, (20)3, pgs. Rescuers began a different approach, using air-powered tools to chip away at some of the rock surrounding John. Privacy Policy. He was found unresponsive at his home after suffering blunt force trauma to the head. At the entrance to the cave is a sign depicting the Grim Reaper. Eduardo later passed a lie detector test. In 2004, Dave Shaw completed a record-breaking dive at Bushman's Hole. 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 . While investigating, she found some unsavoury characters associated with the Vortex Spring. Seig Lu. [1], Upon arrival, the sheriff's deputies sealed off the spring with crime-scene tape. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. . That being said, cave diving comes with heightened risk. He came to Vortex Springs the next day. [19], There was no explicit evidence that Higginbotham was trying to find Ben and claim the reward. [5], The following month, amid increasing criticism, the McDaniels rescinded the reward offer. [22], Kelly remained comatose, and was eventually placed in hospice care, where he died the following month. [1], Captain Harry Hamilton, an investigator in Holmes County, assumed at first that a very large number of divers, both amateur and expert, would volunteer to search for and recover McDaniel's body. 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. "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. Results: A total of 161 divers who died were identified, 67 trained cave divers and . Or, perhaps he had been found dead by the dive shop staff, who feared the consequences of that discovery. 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. 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 . 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. While Ben frequented the spring, he never received sufficient training and wasnt considered an experienced diver. He had come to know Ben in the past couple of months. They did see the truck the next morning. -- Two cave divers in Florida were found dead after they were reported missing over the weekend, according to police . 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. In fact, he owed the IRS $48, 861. To me, the disappearance of Ben McDaniel is cave diving's greatest mystery. 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], But then during the research process, she was able to read Ben's dive logs and the map he had made. 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. Updated 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. Witnesses came forward to say they had encountered Ben on the evening of the 18th of August. Emergency medical services responded to a call and he was admitted to a hospital in Pensacola. Teacher with prosthetic Z-cup breast FINALLY put on leave. Ben reached the locked gate at the entrance to the cave; only experienced divers were given a key to the lock. 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. 2 days of his truck being in the dive shop parking lot before anyone became alarmed. 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. Authorities identified the two divers as Todd Richard McKenna, 52, and Stephen Roderick Gambrell, 63. He was wearing a dive mask, fins, and a wet suit. Unsworth said the water was too murky to see and on June 25, Thai Navy SEALs tried the same . 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Training status, safety rules violated, relevancy of the violations, and root causes leading to death were determined. Terrifyingly John then slid even further down into the passage and was trapped with his arms pinned under his chest. . Epub 2013 Jan 31. 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. GO NO FARTHER. [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. ZACATON: The Tragic Death of Sheck Exley. Accessibility official website and that any information you provide is encrypted 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). Med Sport Sci. 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. 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. A spelunker is somebody who explores caves as a hobby. This forum is for the discussion of diving Accidents and Incidents and has. Ben had endured a failed marriage and a bankrupted construction company that left him despondent. The cave is located in the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Park in Weeki Wachee, roughly an hour north of Tampa. "Once John had been declared dead, there were discussions about 'How do we get him out?' In the late 2000s Ben McDaniel was going through a difficult period in his life. He was on a yacht in the Bahamas, leading an expedition. Others theorise he faked his own death. 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. We and our partners use cookies on this site to improve our service, perform analytics, personalize advertising, measure advertising performance, and remember website preferences. [1], In 2011 Kelly ameliorated the charges against him by pleading no contest. Very interesting. Paul was not being prescribed opiates. Sheriff & # x27 ; said sign at Florida underwater cave is cave diving and needed. Death imaginable after getting trapped upside down reached the locked gate at the same site Shaw! Searched was pristine, without a mark that a diver had been there workers! Tried the same site, Shaw found Dreyer & # x27 ; said sign Florida. 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