Three teenagers went to a park to hang out. Soon after chatting with two adults, they met who were preparing for a dive, the body of one of the adults floated up to the surface.
Three teenagers found the bodies of two cave divers in Florida.
On June 22 at approximately 12:20 p.m., the Hernando Country Sherriff’s Office received a call regarding a possible drowning in the Buford Springs Cave located at Chassahowitzka Wildlife Park in Weeki Wachee, according to a release by the sheriff's office.
The three teenagers, a 17-year-old and two 15-year-olds, arrived at the park around 9 a.m. earlier that day to hang out by the water. They chatted with two adults who arrived later and prepared for their dive
The teenagers told deputies that the two adults resurfaced shortly after entering the water and engaged in conversation with each other, possibly about going into the cave and whether or not they had enough oxygen in their tanks.
“One of the divers is believed to have mentioned that he possibly had a leak in his tank,” the statement wrote. “After a short time, both adults dove back down under the water.”
After a short while, the teenagers noticed one of the divers float to the surface while facing down. They thought the diver was looking for his diving companion.
When the teenagers saw that there were no bubbles on the surface, they swam over to the diver and attempted to pull him onto a dock but were unable to lift him.
That is when two deputies arrived, jumped into the water, and lifted the diver onto the dock.
“The diver was obviously deceased,” the statement wrote.
While waiting for the second diver, they assumed that he would surface any minute but “as time passed and the second diver did not surface,” the office wrote, “it was surmised that he most likely experienced some type of problem in the cave.”
Specialized cave divers of the International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery (IUCRR) were contacted in an attempt to find the second diver, who they later found “obviously deceased” approximately 137 feet below the surface.
The sheriff's offices shared that neither of the divers showed obvious signs of trauma and they both appeared to have the appropriate diving equipment, though it is currently unknown if their equipment was working properly.
Detectives identified the divers as Todd Richard McKenna, 52, and Stephen Roderick Gambrell, 63.
According to the statement, both divers were brought to a medical examiner.
