A safe

[asmackofjellyfish]

My wife and I were diving for Crab the other day.....and found a nice big shiny box about three feet by four feet. When we went around the other side we discovered that it was a safe with a big hole in the door. It looked like someone had either blown it open, or pried a big hole in it.

After telling about half a dozen people about it, someone finally asked if I had reported it to the police.

My questions for all yee scubaboarders are:


1. Have you ever found anything that looked like evidence of a crime while diving (other than littering!) and did you report it.
2. Is there anyone out there who thinks I should not have reported this? Why?

[vshearer]

I think I might have kept it to myself if it didn't have the hole in it.

[Jim Lapenta]

If there's nothing in the hole take it home. However if fish have made a home in it leave it be and chalk it up as interesting. Make note of it and go back from time to time and observe how the denizens of the deep make use of it. Good exercise in observation.

[asmackofjellyfish]

The police apparently are taking it quite seriously. They called late this afternoon and area apparently sending the dive team out to recover it tomorrow.

[In10se]

Woulda made a great geocache location!

[Ed L.]

was there a name of a manufaturer on it?

[Fortunediver]

Of course it should have been reported, it was obviously invovled in a crime! What good is a safe with a hole in it. This was definately not an item that you could display as "I found this while diving".

[H3LlIoN]

Of course it should have been reported, it was obviously invovled in a crime! What good is a safe with a hole in it. This was definately not an item that you could display as "I found this while diving".

This made me "lol"

[H3LlIoN]

Doublepost. I'm awesome like that.

[Zerovis]

I found a safe too well more like a hotel safe and after i hauled it to the surface i took it to the cops , they were not that interested after all it could have been dumped , i dont see why you wouldn't report it.

[garyd54220]

Found a .22 rifle in a quarry once. Kind of assumed it was either stolen or used in a crime...otherwise why throw it a quarry. Turned it over to the police ( requesting it be returned to me if they didn't need it) who researched it and when they found no record of the serial number as stolen and no evidence it was a part of a crime actually did return it to me anout 6 months later. Cool souvenir
Gary

[james croft]

I have found a bunch of safes and they need to be turned in or reported. Different jurisdictions have varying interest levels. One example was a small safe robbed from a doctors office at gunpoint that contained narcotics and was later thrown off a bridge. This evidence was later used against seven folks that had a long string of robberies and a capital murder of a cab driver.

Any such evidence of a crime should be located and reported to the police. It may be a key piece of evidence an investigator is looking for.

[naui 15694]

I was on a S&R team and during a training dive in a Lake Erie bay, a kid on the team found four rifles tied together. The looked to have been down for less than a week since not much was growing on them. He wanted to keep them but the captain insisted on calling the police. They found the owner somehow and called him. When the police called him he was surprised to learn that they were not in his gun safe in the house. He had recently left his wife and I guess she decided to throw his hunting rifles in the bay. It makes you wonder what else she tossed of his before he was done moving from the house.

On a pleasure dive in the same bay a guy on the team found what he thought was a large safe. The vis was less than a foot but he was able to identify it as a safe. He called the S&R Team, police, wreckers and news media. When the wreckers lifted the safe out of the water it turned out to be a Kenmore dryer. It did make both the 6:00 and 11:00 news and we never let the guy live it down.

[fisheater]

On a pleasure dive in the same bay a guy on the team found what he thought was a large safe. The vis was less than a foot but he was able to identify it as a safe. He called the S&R Team, police, wreckers and news media. When the wreckers lifted the safe out of the water it turned out to be a Kenmore dryer. It did make both the 6:00 and 11:00 news and we never let the guy live it down.

What?!?!?!

No one called Geraldo Rivera?

[james croft]

Safes are a good find for a dive team. A lot of times in bad vis you find a heaavy square object half buried in the mud under a bridge and think it is a safe, but it is usually a stolen newspaper vending machine.

[iamsharky]

I found a vehicle in a river near a boat ramp and tried to see if there was a body(s) inside, but it was full of sand. I called the sheriff's dept and reported it. The truck had been underwater it looked like for at least 10 years. They notified their dive team and i never heard anything back about it, so I assume it was just a vehicle disposed of.

I did find a newspaper stand on the santa fe near a bridge, but the viz was so good that it was easy to identify.

[CaptEsteban]

ONE word of caution ! If you do find soemthing that you belive might be stolen, do NOT try to bring it up, yourself. According to the local laws , jurisdictions, etc.,, YOU may be charged with receipt of stolen property. Report it.

[deepdiver34]

Sounds like you did the right thing. Would want to get charged with obstruction of justice if someone else finds out you took it up for yourself and then told the police. Some people are just strange like that.