Coast Guard searches for missing woman - Florida

[DandyDon]

Coast Guard searches for female diver near Grayton Beach State Park

DESTIN, Fla. (WEAR-TV) — The Coast Guard is searching for a diver who failed to resurface in water near Destin Sunday.

The diver is described as a 34-year-old female in a black wet-suit, last seen with diving gear on.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a report around 11:30 a.m. that the diver had failed to resurface after checking the anchor line of a 23-foot catamaran, approximately 3 nautical miles south of Grayton Beach State Park.

Currently involved in the search:

• Coast Guard Station Destin 45-foot Rescue-Boat Medium boat crew
• Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter aircrew
• Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
• Walton County Sheriff's Office
• South Walton Beach Safety

 

[DandyDon]

Diver name released: MISSING DIVER UPDATE: Rescue operation switches to recovery off shore of Grayton Beach

GRAYTON BEACH — The search for a scuba diver who went missing late Sunday morning while diving, was shifting from a rescue operation to a recovery operation on Monday afternoon, according to Corey Dobridnia, public information officer with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.

The diver was operating from a 26-foot catamaran in the Gulf of Mexico about three miles south of Grayton Beach.

Sheriff’s Office officials have met with the family of 34-year-old Marie Kaas of Madison, Alabama, Dobridnia said Monday afternoon. The water in the area from which Kaas went missing is 60 to 70 feet deep, according to Dobridnia. Kaas was with family on the boat when she went missing.

Three Coast Guard assets — an 87-foot cutter, a helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans and a 45-foot rescue boat from Coast Guard Station Destin — remained on the scene Monday afternoon, according to a Coast Guard spokesman.

The cutter on scene Monday replaced a cutter that had been involved in the search overnight for Kaas.

As of Monday afternoon, the Coast Guard search area covered approximately 1,600 square nautical miles, according to the spokesman.

The Walton County Sheriff’s Office was notified shortly before noon Sunday via a 911 call that Kaas had gone missing, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.

In addition to the Coast Guard assets, a number of local emergency response units remained involved in the search for Kaas on Monday afternoon, according to the Coast Guard spokesman. In addition to the Coast Guard, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office dive team — which was pulled from the water as a storm moved through the area Sunday, but was back out on the water Monday — has been on the scene, along with the South Walton Fire District and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Service.

 

[tarponchik]

She looks athletic here.

 

[yle]

From an article on another site:

Search continues for diver who went missing off the coast of Grayton Beach

"Marie Kaas, 34, was learning to dive off the coast of Grayton Beach when she possibly got caught in a rip current, according to officials. Kaas was with her family on a catamaran about three miles off the coast...

'The missing diver and her family, I believe everyone in the family was certified divers except for her, so they were familiar with the water, and from my understanding they were trying to build some confidence up in the water to get her comfortable with the water, however, certain times accidents do happen and it’s a very unfortunate accident for the family as a whole,' Walton County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Dustin Cosson said."

Bold was added. Seems like it could be a situation of certified divers making questionable decisions with tragic consequences. Doesn't say if anyone was in the water with her.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Darn reporters. Was she checking the anchor or learning to dive. Smh
And the description of the missing diver in the first report is embarrassing even in its tragedy

 

[stuartv]

'The missing diver and her family, I believe everyone in the family was certified divers except for her, so they were familiar with the water, and from my understanding they were trying to build some confidence up in the water to get her comfortable with the water, however, certain times accidents do happen and it’s a very unfortunate accident for the family as a whole,' Walton County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Dustin Cosson said."

Taking an uncertified diver into 60+ feet of water seems like an unfortunate choice.... IF that's what really happened.

And was she by herself??

 

[The Chairman]

There are no rip currents 3 miles off shore.

 

[Larryjd1]

These "news" articles always seem closer to one of those "mad-libs" books where you fill in the blanks with random phrases.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

From an article on another site:

Search continues for diver who went missing off the coast of Grayton Beach

"Marie Kaas, 34, was learning to dive off the coast of Grayton Beach when she possibly got caught in a rip current, according to officials. Kaas was with her family on a catamaran about three miles off the coast...

'The missing diver and her family, I believe everyone in the family was certified divers except for her, so they were familiar with the water, and from my understanding they were trying to build some confidence up in the water to get her comfortable with the water, however, certain times accidents do happen and it’s a very unfortunate accident for the family as a whole,' Walton County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Dustin Cosson said."

Bold was added. Seems like it could be a situation of certified divers making questionable decisions with tragic consequences. Doesn't say if anyone was in the water with her.

Sooooo many cringe worthy statements in this link....

 

[yle]

Darn reporters. Was she checking the anchor or learning to dive.

At first I thought you were joking about "checking the anchor", as the story says they were about three miles offshore. Diving at home (i.e. so Calif), the water can get to hundreds of feet deep just a mile or two offshore. But it seems at Grayton Beach the water is only about 30 feet deep at the point (i.e. three miles offshore) described in the story.

Which makes this even more tragic... whatever happened, it was just a bit deeper than a swimming pool.