Missing Diver at Lake Pleasant

[Jax]

So what is the next step, besides "the dive team will continue to search for him as part of routine training"?

Does that mean others may do so? I.e., there no longer is a "crime scene"?

Scary thought.

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

It sounds like some of the facts surrounding this incident will forever remain a mystery. My condolences to the family.

Search for missing Lake Pleasant scuba diver called off

mg

I don't know that he will never be found. As is the case in accidents like this, often the official search goes on for a week or two and is called off. But that doesn't mean that the search is over. It is just different now. The oxygen levels are low down where Tim most likely is, so he will not be going anywhere.

That area from my understanding if often dived by a number of tech divers. Knowing that he is there, people will keep an extra eye out and one day my guess is that someone will meet him when they are not necessarily intending to make his acquaintance on that particular day. I could be wrong, but I would be willing to put some money down on that guess. It might be a long time.

We had a situation where a child was lost in a boating accident in deep lake water in our area. The official search went on for a couple of weeks. The ROV kept getting hung in the trees below as there is a full forest at the bottom of this lake. They questioned the child's Dad about foul play Then the search was called off. Then the guy that all the local divers said would find the child did. Everything was as the Dad said and the child did have on a life jacket. There was no foul play. The thread discussing incident on here was lost in a crash. The guy here knows the lake better than anyone. Here he is the guy. I am sure there is a guy there who knows that lake better than anyone or a group of guys and one day they will find him. Like I said earlier, it might be a very very very long time, but I think one day.

 

[Dive-aholic]

There was an incident in a North Florida cave in which the body wasn't found for 5.5 years after the death.

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

There was an incident in a North Florida cave in which the body wasn't found for 5.5 years after the death.

That is exactly what I am talking about. The official search was long over, but the dive community knew he was there and kept an eye out and one day someone unexpectedly made his acquaintance.

In a cave or a deep water lake, people tend to stay where they are until someone finds them. In the ocean or river with strong current it is a different matter. Several of the people Ralston have found have been missing for over 100 years. Time and technology made things once impossible very possible.

I have wondered about Ralston's side scan. With the area having a lot of debris, it would tend to create a lot of acoustic shadows. Does anyone know if some sort of technology has been developed to overcome that issue? He seems to have a knack for reading those scans better than most. I read an article a while ago where they were sending him live feed over the internet and the folks look at and sending the images didn't see the target and he spotted it and and told them where to dive.

 

[IDS_Bill]

So what is the next step, besides "the dive team will continue to search for him as part of routine training"?

Does that mean others may do so? I.e., there no longer is a "crime scene"?

Scary thought.

We'll get clearance to go back out and search. We tec divers who normally dive the area do not go to the area where many believe Tim may be. A group was thinking about being out there this weekend. I'll check with them and see how it went.

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

We'll get clearance to go back out and search. We tec divers who normally dive the area do not go to the area where many believe Tim may be. A group was thinking about being out there this weekend. I'll check with them and see how it went.

Bill can you describe the area you mention? Is it because of the debris field that the area is avoided or is it a current issue with the lake moving through the area of the breach or some other reason altogether? What leads you to believe he is in a certain area and how large and deep is that area?

 

[IDS_Bill]

Bill can you describe the area you mention? Is it because of the debris field that the area is avoided or is it a current issue with the lake moving through the area of the breach or some other reason altogether? What leads you to believe he is in a certain area and how large and deep is that area?

I can't get into all of this on the forum but the are is away from the dam and has a ton of debris. When we dive with tec classes we stay fairly close to the dam since there's not a lot to see when you get away from it and navigation is much tougher out in the open when you start having to make your way around the cement, rebar, trees, I beams, pipes, etc... The area is 200 - 250 feet deep and the water is rising and is around the size of a football field.

 

[Dive-aholic]

That is exactly what I am talking about. The official search was long over, but the dive community knew he was there and kept an eye out and one day someone unexpectedly made his acquaintance.

I don't think the guy that found him was keeping an eye out or even expected to come across a body. I think it was a bit of a shock!

 

[dbramley]

We are looking, or as far as the MCSO is concerned, recreationally diving in the area

 

[Jax]

Dove Desert Tortoise today (NW about 1km from the Dam) . . . Freaking ugly vis, about 2' at 50fsw. Lights are useless in that soup. One can certainly understand why he wasn't found.