On a fateful day in January 1998, Tom and Eileen Lonergan boarded a submarine to explore an area of the Great Barrier Reef off the Australian coast.
The American couple spent more than half an hour under water, sliding through the breathtaking valleys of the St Crispin Reef and admired the coral that stretched like the branches of a immersed forest.
But when she popped up again, their submarine, the outer edge, was nowhere to be seen. Tragically, nobody realized that the couple had only returned from their dive two days later.
When rescuers searched the dive site with sharks, Tom, 33 and Eileen, 22, were nowhere to be found.
Researchers discovered their personal diaries in their hostel room in Cairns, in Queensland On the east coast of Australia, which unveiled various disturbing entries.
“I feel that my life is complete and I am ready to die,” Tom had written for him for six months and Eileen disappeared. 'As far as I can see, my life can only get worse from here. It has reached a peak and it is all downhill to my funeral. '
One of Eileen's last diary entries, only 16 days before the couple disappeared, hinted on personal problems.
'Tom hopes to die soon and fairly painfully [believed to mean painless] Death and he hopes it will happen soon. Tom is not suicidal, but he has a death wish that could lead him to what he wants, and I could be entangled in it. '
On a fateful day in January 1998, Tom and Eileen Lonergan (photo) left a submarine to explore an area of the Great Barrier Reef off the Australian coast
The American couple spent more than half an hour under water, sliding through the breathtaking valleys of the St Crispin Reef and admired the coral extended as the branches of a immersed forest (file image of divers exploring St Crispin Reef)
But when she popped up again, their submarine, the outer edge, was nowhere to be seen. Tragically, nobody realized that the couple had only returned from their dive two days later. When rescuers searched for sharks, Tom, 33 and Eileen, 22, could not be found anywhere (stock image of sharks in a reef)
Tom Lonergan, a balding chemical engineer, and dark -haired Eileen, married nine years prior to their journey in their hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after a meeting at Louisiana State University.
Looking for adventure, they came to the US Peace Corps in 1995 and were assigned work as teachers on the Pacific islands of Tuvalu and Fiji affected by poverty.
In January 1998 they left for Australia – the last stop on their great adventure before they returned to the US.
On Sunday, January 25, they took the hours of coach trip from Cairns to Port Douglas, where they went on board the outer edge for the trip to Stispin Reef, 38 miles offshore.
They enjoyed two 40 -minute dives and later prepared for a third dive on a site known as Fish City because of the abundance of underwater life.
According to the local fisherman Mick Bird, there were dozens of sharks around the reef at that time, which was a few kilometers away that day. “Every time we threw a line, we would draw a shark – they should rename that place Shark City,” he said.
The British diver Bryan Brogdan and the Lonergans admired a gigantic clam embedded in the reef, the blue water illuminated by shafts of sunlight.
Then Brogdan left them to return to the boat when Tom and Eileen stayed longer than instructed the submarine crew. He would be the last person she sees alive.
Around 3 p.m., when everyone should have been on board again, Geoffrey 'Jack' Nairn, the former skipper of the outdoor edge, crew member George Pyrohiw asked to do a workforce – a vital practice that should have been done with the greatest care .
The Lonergans enjoyed two 40 -minute dives and later prepared for a third dive on a site known as Fish City because of the abundance of underwater life (photo: Tom Lonergan)
The British diver Bryan Brogdan and the Lonergans admired a gigantic clam embedded in the reef, the blue water illuminated by shafts of sunlight. Then Brogdan left them to return to the boat when Tom and Eileen stayed longer than instructed the submarine crew. He would be the last person she sees alive (depicted: Eileen Lonergan)
Twenty -six people should have been on board. But while Pyrohiw was counting, two divers jumped into the water to take last-minute photos. Pyrohiw told Nairn that he had only counted 24.
According to Pyrohiw, the skipper then said: “And two in the water makes 26.” Mr Nairn disputes this, but in any case it seems that the two passengers who jumped overboard were counted twice.
After the outer edge was moored in Port Douglas that afternoon and the passengers got out, the crew noticed that two diving bags remained on board.
They were simply moved to another part of the boat; The crew assumed that the owners would ring as soon as they realized that they had left them.
Errors followed after error. In addition to the bags, an inventory showed that the boat missed two air tanks and two weight bells – but nobody asked this.
Standard Stigant, the driver whose task was to bring passengers back to their hotels, his boss told that the Lonergans had not been shown for the ride, but was encouraged not to worry and eventually without leaving them.
The night was closed. The Lonergans were still there … And nobody knew it.
The next day the outer edge returned to St Crispin Reef with new passengers, the crew is still not aware of the tragedy that had occurred.
On Sunday, January 25, they took the hourly coach trip from Cairns to Port Douglas, where they boarded the outer edge for the trip to Strispin Reef, 38 miles offshore
Tom Lonerger, a bald chemical engineer, and dark -haired Eileen, married nine years prior to their journey in their hometown Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Divers descended to wonder to the fish – and had seen and picked up two weight tires on the seabed in a short time. The find caused no action or comment.
Another day passed and the outer edge took out a new boat load of passengers and then returned to Port Douglas for the second time since the fatty dive of the Lonergans.
But there were still the unclaimed diving bags on the boat, and finally skipper Jack Nairn decided to open them.
He found a wallet and ID documents and a shirt that Tom Lonerger had worn on the day of the diving trip. He realized that something was terribly wrong, he reached the phone.
It was now 51 hours since the Lonergans were last seen. They had not returned to their hotel and the police soon discovered that their credit cards were not used. A huge air and sea search was mounted, but no trace of the couple was found.
Ten days later, Tom's Drukjas, with his name neatly on the bag, was found 50 miles north of St Crispin Reef.
A green and gray wetsuit, which is believed to be that of Eileen, was later washed. It had serrated tears in the buttock area, which it is assumed that they were caused by a shark. Her floating replacement jacket, hood, fins and air tank eventually washed ashore.
But it was six months before the ocean yielded its most sickness inheritance. In July, a fisherman of 90 miles north of St Crispin Reef pulled a slate in those divers to write notes together.
The bodies of the adventurous pair have never been found – only a mutilated wetsuit and some of their equipment (file image of divers at St Crispin Reef)
On it was a faded call for help that read: 'Monday, January 26, 1998. 8 hours. To everyone who can help us. We were abandoned here by the outer edge. Please help us or we will die. Tom and Eileen Lonergan. '
Experts have not agreed whether the find is real or a cruel hoax.
The bodies of the adventurous couple have never been found – only a mutilated wetsuit and part of their equipment. Various theories about what happened after the boat had left the reef were presented during the examination and investigation of the coroner.
Detective sergeant Paul Priest said a few months after the disappearance of the couple that he initially found the diaries that discovered in their hostel room 'Chillant Bizarre' and 'prophetic', but he eventually rejected them as the private leoserties of a Intrectief couple.
The disappearance of the Lonergans inspired the film Open Water.
In the Bahamas instead of on the Great Barrier Reef, the director subject the actors to a test intended to probably catch the panic and fear through the couple after they realized that the submarine had left without them.
Cameras were set on buoys, so that the audience could share the eye level drama while real sharks circled them (although bloody pieces were thrown into the sea to ensure that the sharks had an alternative food source).
