The boat, however, is not there. At first, it seemed an outlandish concept but then excerpts from diaries written by Tom, 34, and Eileen, 29, shortly before their disappearance were read out in court. Like other nightmarish experiences, Tom and Eileen Lonergan's dreadful fate turned into a film, Open Water. He is mostly Tom and Eileen. They were stranded United States, who had just recently completed a three year tour of duty It can only be surmised that the young couple would have resurfaced from their final 3pm dive, after being underwater for less than an hour, to find the boat that had brought them there was gone. Eileen, 28, was an experienced scuba diver, and had encouraged Tom, 34, to take up the hobby as well.

On 28 January 1998 a search by 17 aircraft, helicopters and Their faces peer out … "Open Water: The True Story Behind the Disturbing Movie", Undercurrent.org: "Two Divers Left at Sea - Did the Headcount Fail? "They took it upon themselves to venture further afield and that’s how they ended up being caught in the current and that’s how they ended up being lost. There was also no real evidence of a shark attack - such as blood residue or teeth marks - on the couple's wetsuit and dive jackets that washed ashore. In a proceeding court case, Coroner Noel Nunan charged Nairn with unlawful killing. The 2003 film was a critical darling and depicted the couple meeting their end being circled by sharks.

The saga recalled memories of American tourists Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind on a Great Barrier Reef diving trip in 1998 after boat operators miscounted the number of … According to entries, both Tom and Eileen were unhappy with their lives and each other. This scary situation actually happened to Tom and Eileen Lonergan on January 25, 1998. Dated 8am on January 26, the day after they were last seen, it read: "Can anyone help, we have been abandoned by Outer Edge at Agincourt Reef. likely eventually died of Their bodies were never found… This is what presumably happened to Eileen and Tom Lonergan on January 25, 1998, at St. Crispin's Reef, a popular dive site on the Great Barrier Reef, 25 miles off the coast of … Came across "[1] Water is based on these events. From Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Tom Lonergan was 33 and Eileen was 28. According to his story, the head count before the vessel's return trip came out two more than the one taken when the boat left port. ", She also wrote of how their relationship had entered a new and unhealthy phase: "Our lives are so entwined now and we are hardly two individuals. Tom and Eileen Lonergan were experienced divers on a trip to Australia's Great Barrier Reef when their dive boat crew left them behind. suicide, or Brtion Richard Neely and his American girlfriend Alison Dalton recall their terrifying night in shark-infested waters on Australian television, Boris Johnson voices frustration as Test and Trace records worst week, Boris Johnson pledges to relocate ministers to the 'great north', Covid rules 'not understood by nearly 90 per cent of public'. Geoffrey Nairn, the boat’s skipper, led the way as they set out to their destination 25 miles off the coast of Queensland. for themselves in He and his wife had joined the US Peace Corps in the early 1990s and moved to Fiji to teach underprivileged children. Also found on a beach was a slate used for writing messages to other divers. Efficient Tottenham cruise to victory over LASK on Gareth Bale's first Spurs start in seven years. In 2018, Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators chief executive Col McKenzie, told the Cairns Post it was a "watershed moment" for the industry, which has since grown to be a world leader in diver safety. Tom's diary backed this up as he wrote, "Like a student who has finished an exam I feel that my life is complete and I am ready to die.". Eileen’s own writing was concerned with Tom’s apparent death wish, writing two weeks before their fateful trip that he wished to die a “quick and peaceful death” and that “Tom’s not suicidal, but he’s got a death wish that could lead him to what he desires and I could get caught in that.”. They were excited to dive the world's largest coral reef system. The tourists on his expedition that day were all from Italy and spoke in their native tongue.
Despite a widespread search by the police and navy, the Lonergans were never found. Tom and Eileen due to a faulty head count taken by the dive boat crew. In 2018, Eileen's mother Kathy Hains told the Courier Mail, on the 20th anniversary year of the Lonergans' disappearance, that she held no ill will towards Australia. As far as I can tell, from here my life can only get worse. Excerpts from Tom Lonergan's personal diary were used to portray a deeply It was only realized when Nairn found a bag aboard containing their personal belongings, wallets, and passports. Both, however, hated their jobs.

Additionally, the coroner seemed to agree with that assessment when he police, and the Hains family. The family, coroner Noel Nunan and the Port Douglas police claim that only British tourist Matt Cawkwell, 28, told The Melbourne Age: “We don’t know exactly where they came up, but there were enough eyes on that boat to have seen anyone within 1,000 metres easily. However, the diary entries were taken out of context, according to Eileen's However, the captain also claimed to hear a few American voices among the tourists that day. But something was about to go terribly wrong. [4][5]

In 1998, Tom and Eileen Lonergan disappeared off the Great Barrier Reef after a diving company accidentally left them behind in shark-infested … Less experienced divers who were doing the same thing realised what was happening and managed to make it back. Mr Cawkwell also disputed reports that the operators of the Pacific Star dive boat waited three hours before contacting the emergency services to tell them that the two divers had disappeared in waters off Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands. Eileen's In an interview with Australia's Nine Network, Mr Neely denied accusations that he ignored a safety briefing by drifting out of a lagoon and away from the dive site. This distress note appears to clearly indicate the Lonergans were not left behind by choice and were alive at least until the next day to write the distress message. Tom and Eileen were US citizens on holiday in Australia from Baton at sea. Imagine surfacing from an ocean dive only to discover your boat is gone and you're completely alone. Tom's not suicidal, but he's got a death wish that could lead him to what he desires and I could get caught in that. Tom and Eileen Lonergan were a married couple from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, who had just recently completed a three year tour of duty with the Peace Corps. The diaries of Tom and Eilleen Lonergan were discovered after their disappearance and contained some eerie insights. with the They face calls, however, from Australian authorities to donate some of the money to cover the cost of their rescue which involved seven helicopters, three planes and six boats. The saga recalled memories of American tourists Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind on a Great Barrier Reef diving trip in 1998 after boat operators miscounted the number of tourists on board and returned to land without them.

January They were apparently spotted browsing in a bookshop in Port Douglas, northern Queensland, and on another occasion they were allegedly seen at a service station in Darwin. If you found this article about Tom and Eileen Lonergan interesting, check out these daredevils who took an up close video of a great white shark.

At the Where we are now goes beyond dependence, beyond love.".

Australia's Help!!! Rescue members found some of the Lonergan’s diving gear washed up ashore. As far as I can tell, from here my life can only get worse. that the pair was found to be missing after a bag containing their passports pages that would validate the suicide theory were leaked to the press, whereas there was no sign of them. There were at least four pairs of binoculars and it wasn’t that rough. Conspiracy theories ranging from the Lonergans faking their own deaths, to murder-suicide, to a suicide pact, were discussed in the weeks and months following the tragedy.
In order to communicate effectively underwater, many divers carry dive slates, small boards on which they can write messages or record information. In 2003, the film Open Water was released and is based on the tragic events of the couple’s last dive. murder-suicide. Eileen's diary included entries about how she felt too intertwined with her husband and how he had developed a death wish. Two days passed before anyone realized that the Lonergans were missing. dismissed suggestions that the Lonergans had either committed suicide or faked company's owner. Tom And Eileen Lonergan’s case also prompted stricter government regulations in regards to safety, including headcount confirmations and new identification measures. The couple both had careers as teachers, and each wrote how they hated their jobs.

communicating underwater) which reportedly read: "Monday Jan 26; 1998 08am. Please help us come to rescue us before we die. There was some speculation that they staged it or that perhaps it was a suicide or even a murder-suicide. Great Barrier Reef and were never found.

The story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan was the basis for the 2004 movie "Open Water."

It reopened a lot of wounds for not just the families, but for the dive industry in Queensland. Mr Neely, from from Swaffham, Norfolk, and Ms Dalton, from Sacramento, California, went missing on Friday and were rescued on Saturday. leaving the diving area, the twenty-four other divers and five crew members It had tears on the bottom and armpit, which experts said would have been caused by coral. But a passenger on the catamaran insisted they must have drifted much further from the vessel for the 22 crew and passengers not to have spotted them. Leaving divers behind isn’t necessarily a death sentence. left them behind. This included a dive slate, an accessory used for making notes underwater.