Diver missing in the Bahamas

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

bandit_TX

Contributor
Messages
109
Reaction score
3
Location
Greenville, TX
# of dives
500 - 999
I received word this evening that my friend and dive buddy has been missing since he failed to surface from a dive yesterday in the Bahamas. John
Petty is an avid underwater photographer. I don't know where he was diving or who with. Coast Guard has been performing the search. John is active with Houston Underwater Photography Society HUPS. If anyone is in the area and has more information, please post.
 
I just heard about this, as well. John told me he was going out with Abernethy. If I hear anything, I'll let you know.
 
Very sorry to hear about this, we have heard bits and pieces over the radio here in WPB. Who said his tank and camera was found? We just keep hearing nothing had been found? Best wishes for all those involved...
 
He was doing a shark dive off of the commercial dive vessel Shear Water.

Longview chiropractor missing after dive off the Bahamas - Longview News-Journal: Local News
Posted: Monday, July 14, 2014 7:55 pm | Updated: 11:23 pm, Mon Jul 14, 2014. From Staff Reports
Dr. John Petty, a Longview chiropractor known for award-winning outdoor and undersea photography often done on high-adventure trips around the world, is the subject of an ocean search off the Bahamas, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Petty went missing Sunday while on a dive 20 nautical miles northwest of West End, Grand Bahama, said Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios of the Coast Guard station in Miami.
The search began late Sunday and was continuing into Monday night, with Coast Guard searchers from Miami and Clearwater, Florida, employing a Coast Guard cutter, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Rios said the search also included the commercial vessel from which Petty was diving, and crews from the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.
“We have not found anything,” Rios said this evening.
Reached earlier Monday at his professional office, Petty’s staff said they had no information about the situation. No one could be reached at his home in Longview.
In a news release issued late tonight, the Coast Guard 7th District in Miami said Petty, 63, was reported missing late Sunday night by the captain aboard the commercial dive vessel Shear Water. The captain reported Petty went shark diving with eight others and never resurfaced.
 
Sorry to hear about this diver that went missing.

Did they dive during the day or during night time ? Why was he only reported missing "Late Sunday night" ?
Shark dive . Did they chum the water to get the sharks to be present ? How deep was the dive ?
Any additional news yet ?
 
It would be nice to hear from his dive buddy on the dive, as to where John was, what was going on, and what he/she thinks happened...
If this was on a shark dive, that is typically done in a single group, so I don't quite get who a diver could disappear from one of these ???
 
I would all to keep john in our prayers, he is a good man and a past former student. He is a good diver and knows his stuff. Pray for a safe return. Thank you
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom