Diver Lost in Jamaica
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Can't get that link?
American scuba diver missing in Jamaica
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
by HORACE HINES
NEGRIL, Jamaica (23 Jan 2006) -- The Westmoreland police fear that a missing American visitor who was vacationing at Grand Lido, Negril may have drowned after he went scuba diving with a friend three days ago.
The missing man has been identified as Gregory Grethen 55 years old sales representative of Statles, St Claire Shore Michigan, United States.
According to Constable Odean Dennis, Constabulary Communication Network Liaison Officer for Westmoreland, around 9:30 am Friday, Gregory Grethen who was vacationing at Grand Lido, Negril went missing after he and a friend went scuba diving.
It is reported that Grethen failed to surface after a dive nearly a mile out at sea.
An extensive underwater and surface search by divers from several hotels in the Negril resort area, the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) Coast Guard and the Negril marine police, failed to detect the missing man.
The search was called off at nightfall, and resumed Saturday, again with no sign of Grethen.
The Negril marine police continue investigations.
Meanwhile, Zein Nakash, Grand Lido's vice president of marketing and environmental affairs, describing the incident as 'very, very sad', said the hotel was doing everything in its power to find the American salesman.
"Very unfortunate incident - but we are hoping for the best," said Nakash.
"Everybody is saddened and concerned over the missing guest. We called in the JDF for assistance and they had divers under water and helicopters searching the water surface but he is still not found," Nakash told the Observer yesterday.
Grethen, who is said to be an experienced diver, was staying at the hotel with his wife who left the island Saturday. A brother of the missing man flew into the island Saturday, as the search continued.
SOURCE - Jamaica Observer
Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network
by HORACE HINES
NEGRIL, Jamaica (23 Jan 2006) -- The Westmoreland police fear that a missing American visitor who was vacationing at Grand Lido, Negril may have drowned after he went scuba diving with a friend three days ago.
The missing man has been identified as Gregory Grethen 55 years old sales representative of Statles, St Claire Shore Michigan, United States.
According to Constable Odean Dennis, Constabulary Communication Network Liaison Officer for Westmoreland, around 9:30 am Friday, Gregory Grethen who was vacationing at Grand Lido, Negril went missing after he and a friend went scuba diving.
It is reported that Grethen failed to surface after a dive nearly a mile out at sea.
An extensive underwater and surface search by divers from several hotels in the Negril resort area, the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) Coast Guard and the Negril marine police, failed to detect the missing man.
The search was called off at nightfall, and resumed Saturday, again with no sign of Grethen.
The Negril marine police continue investigations.
Meanwhile, Zein Nakash, Grand Lido's vice president of marketing and environmental affairs, describing the incident as 'very, very sad', said the hotel was doing everything in its power to find the American salesman.
"Very unfortunate incident - but we are hoping for the best," said Nakash.
"Everybody is saddened and concerned over the missing guest. We called in the JDF for assistance and they had divers under water and helicopters searching the water surface but he is still not found," Nakash told the Observer yesterday.
Grethen, who is said to be an experienced diver, was staying at the hotel with his wife who left the island Saturday. A brother of the missing man flew into the island Saturday, as the search continued.
SOURCE - Jamaica Observer
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Your link works fine now, maybe something else was malfunctioning, but thanks for pasting the story.
Condolences to the family and friends of the lost diver.
Condolences to the family and friends of the lost diver.
Jamdiver
Guest
I vaguely recall hearing something about this in the local press a few days ago.
Haven't heard anything at all since then...
Conditions around that time as they are now were somewhat rough, choppy seas, high winds..
Haven't heard anything at all since then...
Conditions around that time as they are now were somewhat rough, choppy seas, high winds..
Cynthia Prettyman
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A friend of my wife is from the same town as the lost diver. Any updates or links would be appreciated.
DMdoogie
DMdoogie
Jamdiver
Guest
Hi Cynthia haven't heard any updates or further reports in the local press.
I'm guessing that the family of the lost diver would have more information, perhaps from the local police in that area?
I'm guessing that the family of the lost diver would have more information, perhaps from the local police in that area?
Willar
Contributor
Here's more from another web board:
====== Jan 23, 2006 =============
Just off the phone with a DM from Hedo. He reports the following:
Dive was off the GLN dive boat on a reef called KingFish Point.
Normally there is a mooring there for a ninety foot dive, but the mooring was destroyed in the recent storms
A group of divers entered the water and were requested to stay on the surface. There was some current and the boat captain noticed that his depth sounder indicated that the bottom was too deep for the planned dive (some areas for KingFish Point drops to 250 to 300 feet).
The dive DM got the divers back on the boat so that a less deep location could be found.
Then the DM noticed that one diver was missing -- he must of started down without waiting for the OK to submerge.
The DM went immediately after him but failed to find the diver.
Consensus is that he got disoriented and continued to go down thinking that the bottom was only 90 feet rather than much deeper.
All the Negril dive facilities and the Jamaican police organized a search but have failed to find him. Current has likely moved him out to sea. As he was weighted, finding him will be difficult.
The diver made several mistakes based on this account: he failed to wait for the decent authorization, he descended without a buddy, he likely failed to notice his depth gauge so he went over safe depths and he likely failed to notice his tank air volume as measured by tank pressure.
This really saddens me and reenforces that diving is a sport that takes skill and discipline.
Chuck
==================================================
Feb 3, 2006:
The GLN SCUBA diver has not yet been found; there is still a search going on.
However, in the process of searching, the search teams have spotted about 10 tiger sharks (some very large) in the search zone. Their presence (and their reported number) is very rare (I have seen only one crusing at a depth of about 150 feet). Speculation is that they are trying to escape the cooler water of the N.Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico into the warmer waters of the Caribbean. Tiger sharks are agressive (voracious and omnivorous). Unlike the sluggish nurse shark spotted from time to time in the Negril waters, these guys are dangerous to humans.
Hope continues,
Chuck
===============================
I have about 30 dives around Negril and the only shark I have seen is a nurse shark that lives at Shark Reef. The whole thing sounds pretty weird.
====== Jan 23, 2006 =============
Just off the phone with a DM from Hedo. He reports the following:
Dive was off the GLN dive boat on a reef called KingFish Point.
Normally there is a mooring there for a ninety foot dive, but the mooring was destroyed in the recent storms
A group of divers entered the water and were requested to stay on the surface. There was some current and the boat captain noticed that his depth sounder indicated that the bottom was too deep for the planned dive (some areas for KingFish Point drops to 250 to 300 feet).
The dive DM got the divers back on the boat so that a less deep location could be found.
Then the DM noticed that one diver was missing -- he must of started down without waiting for the OK to submerge.
The DM went immediately after him but failed to find the diver.
Consensus is that he got disoriented and continued to go down thinking that the bottom was only 90 feet rather than much deeper.
All the Negril dive facilities and the Jamaican police organized a search but have failed to find him. Current has likely moved him out to sea. As he was weighted, finding him will be difficult.
The diver made several mistakes based on this account: he failed to wait for the decent authorization, he descended without a buddy, he likely failed to notice his depth gauge so he went over safe depths and he likely failed to notice his tank air volume as measured by tank pressure.
This really saddens me and reenforces that diving is a sport that takes skill and discipline.
Chuck
==================================================
Feb 3, 2006:
The GLN SCUBA diver has not yet been found; there is still a search going on.
However, in the process of searching, the search teams have spotted about 10 tiger sharks (some very large) in the search zone. Their presence (and their reported number) is very rare (I have seen only one crusing at a depth of about 150 feet). Speculation is that they are trying to escape the cooler water of the N.Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico into the warmer waters of the Caribbean. Tiger sharks are agressive (voracious and omnivorous). Unlike the sluggish nurse shark spotted from time to time in the Negril waters, these guys are dangerous to humans.
Hope continues,
Chuck
===============================
I have about 30 dives around Negril and the only shark I have seen is a nurse shark that lives at Shark Reef. The whole thing sounds pretty weird.
Jamdiver
Guest
Willar:
Wow, thanks for this new info Willar
.So sorry to hear about the fate of this diver in our waters..
But the search continues and hopefully they will discover the diver
.R.I.P.
On another note, tiger sharks are indeed rare in these waters..
Hardly heard of them encountered here, hammerheads on occasion depending on which side of the island and i've even heard of encounters with bull sharks.
Misplaced Priority
Contributor
Something smells a little fishy to me. Lots of vauge excuses. Could this be another case of the dive boat taking off without everyone on board? If the seas were rough, he might have never submerged and still not been seen. Also, how far did the dive boat go before they figured it out? If the captain puts people in the water before he figures out how deep it is, how would you expect him to even know how to get back to the original site? Just my two cents.
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