diver from Orlando missing while diving the Eagle

[skoobajunkie]

Has anyone heard or seen news reports about an Orlando man diving the Eagle with a friend on Nov. 1st that came up and their boat was gone? They found one, but the other was still missing. I havent been able to find any reports on it.

 

[darushin]

Has anyone heard or seen news reports about an Orlando man diving the Eagle with a friend on Nov. 1st that came up and their boat was gone? They found one, but the other was still missing. I haven't been able to find any reports on it.

I can confirm that there is a missing diver. I just got a call from a panicked friend who knows the missing. I was told pretty much what you have heard, that they surfaced and the boat was gone. One diver recovered and one missing. Also coast guard air search from Miami has been deployed. He didn't know the charter company or any details.

Daru

 

[jake11]

Let us hope that this has a good outcome !!!

 

[Steve_C]

Hope it works out. Curious to know how if they came up together one is now missing. If there is no boat, it is time to drop the weights, put up the SMB, and prepare for a long float.

 

[luscioman]

The Eagle has large moorings attached. So as long as the current is not bad it would be easy to stay up there. I cant find anything in the news on this.

 

[darushin]

Maybe NetDoc or one of the locals can chime in. I was wondering about conditions, charter etc... It seems very odd that a charter would leave one much less two divers behind with SOP I have seen on the boats down there.

 

[Learn It]

Hope it works out. Curious to know how if they came up together one is now missing. If there is no boat, it is time to drop the weights, put up the SMB, and prepare for a long float.

This^

 

[diver 85]

Hope it works out. Curious to know how if they came up together one is now missing. If there is no boat, it is time to drop the weights, put up the SMB, and prepare for a long float.

This is terrible--------hoping the missing diver had a snorkel(also),----seriously.......

 

[darushin]

Update

From USCG:

MIAMI — Coast Guard crews are searching for a 32-year-old missing diver, approximately 15 miles off the coast of Islamorada, Florida, and have covered more than 1,200 square miles in their search.
Watchstanders in the Coast Guard Sector Key West, Florida command center first learned of the missing divers when they were notified of an overdue fishing vessel at 7 p.m., Saturday.
The report stated a 23-foot fishing vessel with two people aboard left Islamorada at 7 a.m., Saturday and was scheduled to return at 5 p.m., Saturday.
The Coast Guard diverted the Cutter Dependable and a smallboat crew from Coast Guard Station Islamorada.
Upon arriving on scene, Station Islamorada crewmembers located one diver in the water clinging to a mooring ball approximately three miles off the coast of Islamorada. The man stated the pair was diving when they resurfaced, and discovered their vessel had drifted. The diver stayed with the mooring ball while his brother swam after the vessel, losing sight of him soon after.

Extensive search underway for missing Fla., Keys diver

 

[Wookie]

This is not the seas or temperatures to be missing 24 hours in the Gulf Stream. It was kicking NW on Saturday, but the wind has backed NE and I'm sure the gulf stream up that way is a total mess. Has the boat been spotted?

---------- Post added November 3rd, 2014 at 02:31 PM ----------

[h=3]http://floridakeyssheriff.blogspot.com/2014/11/orlando-man-missing-after-dive-trip.html

Orlando man missing after dive trip[/h]
One man is missing after a dive trip which went wrong over the weekend.


The missing man, 32 year old Matthew Milton of Orlando was in the Florida Keys with his brother-in-law, 35 year old Jeffrey Stewart. The two rented a boat Saturday morning, planning several dives for the day. Stewart told Deputy Nelson Sanchez they were a mile south of Crocker Reef and were planning their last dive of the day in that location around 11 a.m. because they knew the weather was supposed to turn rough. They both entered the water for the dive and they took the anchor to the bottom to set it securely. At the end of the dive they looked for the anchor line so they could follow it to the surface. They could not find the line.


Stewart said they surfaced and could see the boat drifting away from them. They began to swim after it. After swimming for at least an hour, the two men had not caught up with the boat and they became separated from each other as well.


Stewart said he could no longer see Milton, but he saw a dive boat on what he thought was the wreck of the Eagle so he began swimming toward it, yelling in an attempt to get their attention. It appears no one on the boat heard him, however and the dive boat left before he could reach it. He finally did reach the wreck and was able to hang on to a mooring buoy. At 7 p.m., the company that rented the boat to the men called the Coast Guard to report them overdue. The rental company told the Coast Guard the wreck of the Eagle was one of the destinations the two men had discussed. At 10 p.m. the Coast Guard reportedly reached the wreck of the Eagle and found Stewart still clinging to the buoy. He was treated for a mild case of hypothermia.



The Coast Guard continued searching for Milton throughout Saturday night and all day on Sunday. They are still reportedly searching for Milton today.