Lost in the Ocean: The Tragic Story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan
Tragic accidents can lie in wait for us in a variety of situations, including on vacation. Tom and Eileen Lonergan, from the Australian city of Port Douglas, were experienced divers. They could hardly imagine that an ordinary dive, organized by a travel company, would cost them their lives. There are still many mysteries in the history of this couple, although a quarter of a century has passed since the tragedy.
Citizens of Australia, the Lonergans have been diving for a long time. Each of them had more than 150 dives and a solid experience of operating in a wide variety of dangerous situations. To have an interesting vacation, Tom and Eileen went to the Bahamas. There, early in the morning on January 25, 1998, as part of a group of 26 divers, they went to sea on the boat "Outer Edge" to enjoy the beauties of the coral reefs.
The day passed unnoticed and in the evening the ship returned to the port, where the participants of the sea excursion went ashore. The nightmare began two days later, when the skipper of the Outer Edge, while cleaning the ship, found a bag with the Lonergans' belongings and documents. The police were notified of the find and law enforcement officers came to the hotel where the divers were staying. It turned out that no one saw the Australian tourists for two days.
The instructors admitted that before heading to the shore, the divers were counted by their heads. It turns out that they made a mistake and missed two passengers. The police interviewed other people who went to sea with the Lonergans on the Outer Edge. They could not remember whether the couple were on board after sailing or not. Only one man reported seeing a wetsuit belt at the bottom, but whose belt it was could not be determined.
So it became clear that Tom and Eileen were simply forgotten in the open ocean. A search operation was immediately organized, in which ships and aircraft took part. But there were very few chances for success, since more than two days had passed since the disappearance of the spouses. It was almost impossible to stay afloat for so long. The scorching sun and many sharks greatly reduced the chances of surviving.
Despite the fact that the operation took on a large scale and involved hundreds of professionals and volunteers, it was not possible to find the missing. On the beach of one of the islands, parts of wetsuits were found, which, judging by the marks, belonged to the Lonergans. There were no shark teeth marks on them, as is usually the case if divers become their victims. This gave little hope that the spouses were alive and were somewhere on the shore. But further searches did not bring results, and on February 14, 1998, the search operation was curtailed.
Six months later, another discovery was made on one of the beaches. The surf washed up on the shore a signboard used by divers to communicate underwater. On it was a note full of desperation:
As always, when it comes to the disappearance of people, many theories have appeared. One of them says that the Lonergans staged their death in the ocean. Records were found in Tom's things that spoke of big financial problems, so the couple had a motive to do so. Supporters of this version point to the found parts of diving equipment, which is absolutely not damaged. Despite this, most are sure that the spouses still died without waiting for help.
Oddly enough, no one was seriously punished for the deaths of Tom and Eileen. The boat's skipper, Geoffrey Nairna, stood trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter, but was acquitted. His professional reputation suffered greatly, and he was no longer able to work in his specialty. Other crew members got off with a slight fright. They were ordered to pay fines for violating safety regulations.
The tragic story of the Lonergan spouses forced to reconsider the attitude to the organization of diving safety around the world. Now ships carry out a mandatory family roll call of divers. Based on this incident, in 2003, Hollywood filmed the film "Open Sea".