Searchers found the body of a missing diver 137 feet below the surface in Buford Spring on Wednesday, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday. The discovery came after another diver was found dead in the water earlier that day.
The divers were identified as Todd Richard McKenna, 52, and Stephen Rodrick Gambrell, 63, the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
No divers showed signs of obvious trauma, lawmakers said, and both had appropriate diving equipment. Investigators have not established whether all the equipment worked properly.
Hernando County Fire and Rescue Service called divers divers on a phone call to the Times on Wednesday. However, the sheriff’s office said in an email Thursday that it did not know what kind of diving men do.
The body of the first diver was discovered by three teenagers who were swimming in Buford Spring, located in the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area, 13243 Commercial Way in Brooksville. The teens – two 15-year-olds and a 17-year-old – called 911 to report a possible drowning around 12:20 p.m.
About an hour before the 911 call, the teens told authorities they met with McKenna and Gambrel and talked to them as the two men prepared for their dive, the sheriff’s office said.
McKenna and Gambrell resurfaced shortly after the dive began, and the teens heard them discussing returning to the cave and whether they had enough air in their tanks to complete the dive, according to the report. They said one of the divers may have mentioned that he probably had a leak in his tank before diving back into the water.
A little later, the teenagers saw a diver come to the surface. The man, later identified as Gambrel, was drifting face down, the sheriff’s office said, and the teens thought he was looking for the other diver who had not swum with him.
After the teenagers noticed that there were no bubbles coming to the surface, as they had seen earlier, they swam to check Gambrel, the report said. He did not answer.
The three teenagers managed to get Gambrel to the dock, but could not get him out of the water. When the deputies arrived, they jumped into the water and lifted the diver to the dock. Gambrel was dead when he was pulled out of the water, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies knew McKenna was still underwater and were waiting for him. The teenagers had told them about the two men discussing the amount of air in their tanks, so lawmakers thought the diver would emerge at any moment, the sheriff’s office said.
When McKenna did not show up after a while, lawmakers realized there was probably a problem in a cave. The sheriff did not say how long they waited for the diver to emerge.
Several members of the International Underwater Cave Rescue and Reconstruction Team have responded to the site to help find McKenna, according to the sheriff’s office. The team consists of highly specialized divers.
The team found McKenna 137 feet below the surface and took him where he was pronounced dead, the statement said.
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The bodies of the two men were handed over to the forensic doctor. The sheriff’s office is still investigating their deaths.
According to the Chassahowitzka Recreational Guide, available on the Wildlife Committee’s website, Buford Spring is a network of underground caves with descent of 167 feet. The spring is described as containing labyrinthine passages in the caves.
The guide warns of the dangers facing cave divers at Buford Spring and Eagle’s Nest Sink, a nearby spring described as “Everest of cave diving”, saying that people died in both places.
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