Belize is one of the world's premier diving attraction but tonight it is facing the greatest diving disaster this country has seen. Tonight all we know is that four American tourists are missing in Belize's southern seas and they have not been seen for over 48 hours. he four tourists two male and two females were part of a group of 10 who left Placencia on Saturday morning on rough seas for a snorkeling and diving tour with Advanced Diving Tours. So far only the six snorkelers and the two guides have returned. 7NEWS joined the searched above Placencia today and Keith Swift has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting, [keithkswift@gmail.com]
Somewhere in this vast expanse of the Caribbean Sea four tourists are stranded. BDF Defender aircrafts are leading the aerial search in the seas off of the Placencia lagoon. For a total of 14 hours yesterday, Major Ganey Dortch flew over miles upon miles of open sea at an altitude of only 500 feet looking for any sign of the missing divers. He found none and today he was back on the trail.
Major Ganey Dortch, BDF Pilot
"The Defender was dispatched to the area to conduct a search and rescue
and since then we have done four missions, each approximately between three and four hours. What we did was an expanded search. Based on the currents we established a datum and the datum is approximately five miles east from Silk Caye from which a search was conducted south and subsequent to that we have been searching and concentrating our efforts from five miles east of Silk Caye to approximately forty miles north and then southwest towards the Honduran coast."
Keith Swift,
See any signs of life out there?
Major Ganey Dortch,
"Negative."
Coordinating the search on the ground is Placencia dive expert Brian Young. He turned down taking the group out diving on Saturday but is now an integral part of the search.
Brian Young, Dive Master
"Right now from Placencia we have maybe a minimum of six boats out searching right now and I'm assisting the BDF right now with their search. We're about to go up on a next search. These guys have been flying from yesterday, probably putting in over ten hours yesterday."
Major Ganey Dortch,
"Normally we will hope for three days but to be very honest with you, one can sustain life for seven days without food if they have access to water. From what we have been told, with the condition of the divers where they have wet suits, they can actually survive in this type of environment for approximately three to seven days."
That is the hope Harp Scott is clinging to. He came to Placencia with his close
friend 37-year-old nurse Nancy Masters a week ago. They both went on the dive trip but only he returned. Nancy is still missing.
Harp Scott, Friend is Missing
"On Saturday we went out on a snorkeling and scuba diving trip with Advanced Diving and I snorkeled and Nancy scuba dived. Apparently the boat lost power and was drifting at sea and the divers, they don't know where the divers are at this point. Its two days now and from what we've heard from the dive master, who they recovered from Glover's Reef, he said they dove into the water at some point when they could still see Silk Caye and they tried to swim to shore."
Keith Swift,
Is Nancy an experienced diver?
Harp Scott,
"Yes she had her advanced diving certificate. She had been diving in Caye Caulker before and she was an experienced swimmer and the other three divers were as well."
Keith Swift,
We know you were supposed to leave today but you are staying. When will you give up?
Harp Scott,
"I am not sure."
But one couple leaving is Randall Schriener and Rebecca Hey.
Rebecca Hey, Survivor
"Nancy and Harp were with us on Friday when we went to Monkey River so we got to know them on Friday and Harp doesn't know what to do, he has just been pacing the dock. Even if we thought that they would have picked them up on Saturday or Sunday just knowing how much trauma that is and now I don't they are going to pick them up at all." [Sobbing.]
We met them at the Phillip Goldson Airport on their way back to Alaska.
Rebecca Hey,
"The six of us snorkelers got off with Vance onto Silk Caye and the
four divers stayed on the boat and they went off to do their dive. We were snorkeling for an hour just having fun and Vance was watching the boat with the binoculars and after a little bit he started to say he was getting nervous because they hadn't gotten off the boat and they should be coming back in, they should be done with their diving, they're just sitting in the boat and the canopy is down, and he was wondering if they were having engine trouble."
That is when guide leader Vance Cabral jumped in the sea and went looking for the group of divers - leaving his group abandoned on Little Water Caye.
Rebecca Hey,
"It got dark and the other four were standing around smoking and Randall and I were more concerned about getting coconuts and fluid and I was more concerned about setting up a shelter for the wind because I figured we were spending the night there. And we started watching the lights off the distance and about an hour and a half after sunset we saw a light coming out from Little Water Caye towards our island and they landed it was Vance and one of the rangers. Randall and Andrew were signaling with the flashes on their cameras to let them know where we were. So it was exciting when the boat got there because I didn't want to spend the night there."
After that rescue two nights ago - the second dive master Henry Mark Tucker turned up last night. He surfaced on Glover's Reef and told police that when the boat began experiencing engine trouble - they all jumped out of the boat. Unfortunately, so far only he has made it safety.
Brian Young,
"The boat is still out there. According to Mr. Tucker the other four persons, when the boat was drifting between 11 and 12 o'clock on Saturday, he tried to keep them on the boat but they didn't want to stay. Mr. Tucker's words is that the four of them ganged today and decided they could make it to Silk Caye and Mr. Tucker just learnt last night when he called in that we haven't found those four people. He has no idea why they couldn't make that short distance swim.
Being a diver myself and a instructor I am optimistic that these people are out there, still alive, still floating. They just probably misjudged the distance they had to swim in and couldn't make it because it was a very strong southwesterly wind that day so it probably took them out to see. But I am optimistic about it, I still believe they are out there."
Keith Swift,
As a diver yourself, do you think they should have gone out there given the weather conditions?
Brian Young,
"I don't want to speculate on anything right now. Those are up to the authorities."
Hey says in hindsight maybe they should have obeyed the small craft warnings.
Rebecca Hey,
"We have fault because all the other dive shops didn't want to go out on Saturday and apparently there was a small craft warning. But we wanted to go and Advance Diving was willing to take us and so we decided to go even though the last place we checked said it was to rough. But we know that things happen but we're upset knowing there was no radio and no backup engine on the boat we went on. And we know now that is something we will never do again, just go out with somebody who doesn't have backup."
Harp Scott,
"I think things would have happened very differently if the boat had been operational and I also think if they had an anchor they would have been fine. At no point did I feel unsafe on the way out and I didn't feel unsafe while I was on the island and its unfortunate that they drifted further than would have without the weather conditions but I don't think it was a bad decision."
Keith Swift,
What is your hope right now?
Harp Scott,
"That the divers are rescued today."
Keith Swift,
And if not?
Harp Scott,
"I'll be really upset."
Uncertainty from one survivor to a certainty from another.
Randall Schriener,
"Its definitely something we're going to remember forever. It's not something we can forget about. I wouldn't use it as a deterrent to anybody to deter them from coming here. The trip was wonderful except for our friends who are still out there."
And while we know they are somewhere in miles of sea - the questions tonight are where and after more than 48 hours - in what condition might they be? The answer to those chilling questions lie somewhere out here.
JUST IN: Word just in to 7NEWS from Placencia is that about 4 pm a BDF aerial search team located one of the missing divers 23.5 miles southeast of Glover's Reef. They then spotted a second body floating and later they spotted two more survivors. Three of the divers survived and one died (female). About an hour and a half later a search boat responded and transferred the three survivors and the casualty to the hospital.
