Sunday we began the search for the body of the seventeen year old girl murdered and dumped in the mine in 1995. With little to go on, we surmised that the felon acted on impulse, and had no planning in mind when he disposed of the body. No doubt he used duct tape and trash bags and whatever weights he could scrounge up, possibly what he had in his own car, such as a heavy tire jack. We also figured he would dump her from the only easily assessable location, right off the road, on the western cliffs. John and Teddy started off from the dive platform and went down 170' and started a path along the sheer walls which comprise of most of the mine's perimeter. What they encountered was disorienting, as at that depth there is no frame of reference, as it is pitch black except for where your canister light hits. The silt runoff from the land is enormous, composed of leaves, and organic debris for over one hundred years. John plunged his arm into the silt, and went as far as his shoulder, to find no hard bottom. As they progressed around, they came upon overhangs, and John feared they may venture into chimneys, and since they were not running lines, opted to turn around after a few hundred feet along the western wall. Meanwhile, I was back at the Monte Carlo, to photograph in detail and recover my 5' crowbar, and look for other clues at this crime scene. After spending 45 minutes at 200' in forty two degree water, I began my ascent, concluding all my tasks, the images will appear here, and the crowbar was floating from a lift bag on the surface. Other artifacts were spotted and earmarked for other recoveries. My TRT was well over two hours and twenty minutes. On the second dive of the day, all three of us elected to start at the car, and move northward and get to the north wall and search in that region. John and Teddy concluded that if a body were thrown and fallen into the silt, indeed we could never find her, without a massive dredging operation. The only hope of locating a body is if it were buoyant enough and floated to the center areas of the mine, away from all the slit and debris. There we had a chance on seeing something, if remotely. Hence, on dive two, I would go in first and run a fixed line from the Monte Carlo to a nearby panel van I had seen on previous dives. Lift bag and goody bag also came down with me. Small jewelry box, license plate, small odds and ends went into the goody bag, and I tied a line on the safe door, to the lift bag and inflated as usual and it all went up. Teddy and John spotted the bag on the surface after their deco, but as Teddy swam over to it, it sank under the surface. Frustration there, as the lift bag had never failed until then... I did a twenty five minute bottom time, and then just decided to use the new installed up line to the surface, cutting away the scrap of two other lines that were now obsolete. Teddy and John followed. The circuit to the north wall would have to wait another day. I spent over four hours underwater. I have to mention that DUI, Inc. has loaned myself and John Eells the "Blue Heat" undergarment system for the duration of this project, and the electric underwear works wonderfully, even the heated gloves. I could not imagine spending that kind of time in 42 degree water otherwise. John also stayed warm and toasty the entire time, tho, he being on OC, had much shorter run times. Also, hats off to Juergensen Marine and Hammerhead CCR for continued support, and I have had no issues during the sixteen decompression dives I have done in the mine since late June. Thank you Faith Ortins of DUI, Randy Thorton of Hammerhead and Kevin Juergensen of JM! Of all the things that can and will go wrong, I am able to count on certain things working, and exposure suit and CCR have been rock solid. This is tough environment, and this is a proving ground for both these companies.
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