Vortex Accident - T2T

[Cave Diver]

It doesn't help that Vortex just changed management and most of the employees have been replaced in the last week or two. They don't know who even the regulars are ATM.

What a welcoming for the new staff.

If it is a hoax, it seems like he went to elaborate means to set it up. He's either incredibly stupid, or a freaking genius.

 

[Cave Diver]

I just had a very interesting and enlightening conversation with someone. Before I push any further questions, can someone answer two things for me?

Is there any sort of high dollar mapping equipment out there for underwater use? I was told that the victim had recently bought something, possibly from Edd to the tune of several thousand dollars that was able to map caves. Supposedly he showed it off to a couple of people and was involved in a mapping project.

Secondly, is it possible that he may have pushed through some sort of stupid crazy restriction and found another entrance to the cave and is still in the woods somewhere (thus the dogs coming in).

I've also learned more that may give credibility to the hoax theory, but want to explore accident potential first and can't share some of what I've learned here yet.

 

[BabyDuck]

didn't they use something like that in that video that took them (jill & wes & i don't remember who else right now) under sonny's?

 

[netmage]

Like this....

 

[Docc]

Is there any sort of high dollar mapping equipment out there for underwater use? I was told that the victim had recently bought something, possibly from Edd to the tune of several thousand dollars that was able to map caves. Supposedly he showed it off to a couple of people and was involved in a mapping project.

If he could afford expensive mapping technology, why was he stealing air and not paying for classes?

As for being an engineer.....hell, I'm an engineer and I pay about 12 other engineers. Lots of engineers are stupid, moi included.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Wasn't he an engineer? How the heck did he have money for silly open water specialty cards?

He worked construction.

I just had a very interesting and enlightening conversation with someone. Before I push any further questions, can someone answer two things for me?

Is there any sort of high dollar mapping equipment out there for underwater use? I was told that the victim had recently bought something, possibly from Edd to the tune of several thousand dollars that was able to map caves. Supposedly he showed it off to a couple of people and was involved in a mapping project.

Secondly, is it possible that he may have pushed through some sort of stupid crazy restriction and found another entrance to the cave and is still in the woods somewhere (thus the dogs coming in).

I've also learned more that may give credibility to the hoax theory, but want to explore accident potential first and can't share some of what I've learned here yet.

There is high dollar mapping equipment. They used it in the Wakulla 2 project. Edd doesn't sell anything like this. And it's doubtful he would have had the several hundred thousand dollars to get one. Maybe he put together some device that looked like it could do something like that to those who know nothing about this.

The dogs are coming in to search for the body in case it was blown out of the system through the entrance (very unlikely this occurred). The back of the cave is in the 150-160' range. The cave starts at 50' and gets deeper. There's a room in the back section where the ceiling is at about 135'. It's unlikely there is another entrance.

 

[Cave Diver]

If he could afford expensive mapping technology, why was he stealing air and not paying for classes?

As for being an engineer.....hell, I'm an engineer and I pay about 12 other engineers. Lots of engineers are stupid, moi included.

I was told he does have some money and the gear in question may actually have been a VR3 that he recently purchased. The mapping question came from a non-diving person who was asking for clarification about some of the stuff the family has been told.

I've also been told there is a karst/sinkhole somewhere in the woods in Vortex and he may have been trying to map/connect the two. That's the reason for the dogs being brought in.

Keep in mind this is all theory and speculation at the moment, but considering the body has yet to be found it may be worth considering. Thats why I'm keeping it back here and out of the main thread.

The people I talked also hinted at the possibility of faking it so he could restart somewhere else either. So far this possibility has come from 3 separate people connected to the victim. Not sure at this point what their connection to each other is though.

 

[Cave Diver]

Thanks Rob. I see you we were posting at the same time and you addressed a couple of the questions.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

.....

 

[TommyB]

Here's what his friends are saying on a non diving related board.
The all look to be pretty young , so who knows what is going through their heads

Ben had been diving this particular cave for about 2-3 months now. He was there almost everyday sometimes more than once in the same day. He was pretty familiar with it and level of danger it possessed and more than likely just got a little too confident in his skill set probably adding to his decision to dive alone. People knew of his plan to go down there, one of the other instructors was coming up as he was going in but because he was known to dive more than once in a day it's possible that person thought he might have been on a second or third dive after Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning. He was also just certified to be an OW scuba diving instructor.

In regards to recovery, they are doing one last dive today around noon.

Where Ben is no other diver wants to risk going down there. He is very far back in an area that is uncharted and hasn't even been explored by another diver due to the amount of danger in that particular part of the cave. The person who is making the dive lives in the area but was out of town. He has flown back into town to make the dive and locate the body. He is the most experienced cave diver around, more so than Ben, so if he can't get to him then they will be calling off the search. Recovery will be his call and if it is too risky then it will not happen.

Ben had recently bought an electronic device that tracked where he went, how deep he was, how long he was in a certain area, strokes and things like that. It did not have GPS. That was apparently going to be his next big diving purchase

. This diver that has flown in, is actually the man who sold him the device, I am unlear on whether he helps run Vortex Springs or just a scuba shop in general.

Basically at the very least, this last diver, wants to get the device so they can know exactly what he was up to down there, where all he went and it can give them a better understanding of what went wrong. It's kind of like the black box on an airplane.

Please pray that they get him out of there today so that his family can bring him home to rest with Paul.

Please also know that the divers who have been helping out with the search are VOLUNTEERS. They are just regular guys who know how to cave dive. They are not getting paid and are laying their own lives on the line every time they go in there and search. What they are doing is heroic and no blame should be laid if they deem it too risky to go any further. Let's say a prayer that they all return safe and no more life is lost.

Scott is down there with the McDaniel family and on the recovery site and trying to keep me updated as best he can so that I can relay it on to Ben's friends. I know what I've posted isn't a lot of information but it's all I can post with out discussing details that don't really have any place on a public forum. Please also keep Scott in your thoughts and prayers. Him and Ben were best friends and shared a very strong bond like that of brotherhood. He is having a really hard time with all of this and I know he would be thankful for the support and prayers.

I will try to update later today or if I hear anything new but I hope this helps.