On August 31st, 2004, Dan Grenier, the owner/operator of Crystal Divers in Fiji, and Danielle Gibbons, an employee of Dans, failed to return to the boat after a dive in the Vatu-i-ra Passage. Almost four weeks of searching by air, sea, and underwater, has thus far been unsuccessful in locating Dan and Danielle.
As there is no definitive proof as of yet as to whether they have survived or not, family and friends will continue to be vigilant and actively search whenever new information arises. We all hope for the best.
Understandably, many who have been trying to follow the developments of Dan and Danielles disappearance have been frustrated by the lack or quality of the information that was available. There has been a lot of activity, and communications in and out of Fiji have been difficult at best during these times. The following are the facts as we know them from the day of the dive to today. The information you are about to read has been checked for accuracy by the people who were directly involved with the diving that day and the subsequent searching.
On August 31st, 2004 the M/V Crystal Explorer headed off from the island of Nananu-i-ra to make three dives on sites in the Vatu-i-ra Passage. On board were Dan Grenier, Danielle Gibbons, crewmembers Alisi Grenier, Semi (divemaster), Meki (deckhand), and four guests of Bamboo Beach Resort. Crewmembers and passengers estimated the sea conditions that day to have winds at 15 - 20 knots + and seas 4 - 7 ft., both out of the southeast. A full moon tidal cycle increased the normally strong currents pushing through the reefs.
After a first dive and surface interval at Instant Replay, Dan and his crew prepared for a second dive. The decision was made that Dan and Danielle would dive on a site known as Marys Maytag, while the four guests and Semi would dive at Pot Luck. Marys is a short, fast moving drift dive that starts on a small pinnacle off the main reef and ends in the lee of the main reef by another site known as Garden of Eden which lies between Pot Luck and the beginning of Marys Maytag. The four guests and their divemaster were put into the water at Pot Luck, and the boat moved about 100 m around the reef and dropped Dan and Danielle in at Marys Maytag at around 11:45 am. The boat then returned to the mooring at Garden of Eden to await the return of both parties. When it became clear to Alisi that Dan and Danielle were overdue, Alisi called into Crystal Divers to report that Dan and Danielle were missing and then began searching the area. (Two things should be noted: First, as the question has come up several times, Alisi overheard Dan earlier in the day checking with Danielle to see if she had her rescue tube with her. Second, Alisi heard what she thought might have been a divers alert horn like the ones worn by both Dan and Danielle. She started the boat and headed back to the area where Dan and Danielle should have been, but saw nothing and returned to the mooring where the guests were diving) The M/V Crystal Explorer continued to search the area while another boat arrived. As Fiji has no Search and Rescue (SAR) agency or other air assets, aerial searches would have to be conducted by private or small commercial aircraft, and the earliest searchers could get up in one of these aircrafts was the following morning. The M/V Crystal Explorer remained on scene until she became low on fuel. The other boat continued to search until nightfall. A mooring line was left at the dive site in case a change in currents returned Dan and Danielle to the site.
The morning of September 1st, 2004, a 30 nautical mile wedge reaching northwest of the dive site was searched with an airplane covering the outer portions and three boats covering the inner portions. Two more boats searched the fringing reefs of northern Viti Levu, to the west/southwest of the dive sites. All aircraft in the area were asked to keep an eye out and several aircraft diverted their flight plans to look in these areas. The following days the search expanded over 70 miles in all directions and included up to four airplanes and a helicopter searching at once. This search area would include almost the entire Bligh Waters from the Yasawas 70 miles to the west/northwest to Ovalau 60 miles to the southeast. Also, many people were either contacted or had heard the news and began volunteering, and soon boats were searching in many areas bordering the Bligh Waters.
In the first forty-eight hours of searching, high winds and seas made aerial searches difficult because of higher minimum altitudes and consistent white caps on the surface. The boats were facing similar problems as well with the weather. As the weather began to break the amount of resources available began to diminish, however, at least one aircraft continued to fly over most of the same areas in hopes of taking advantage of the calm winds and good visibility to spot them at sea or on uninhabited islands and beaches. The Fijian Navy also dispatched the vessel Kikau to conduct grid searches of the Bligh Waters. At least two dives were also made at Marys Maytag to look for any clues. The first was the following day, and the second was four days later and went deeper and farther down current. Nothing was found, including any outcroppings or other hazards that might have snagged them.
On September 8th, 2004 active searches ceased, while a continued effort to get people to look around their local beaches continued.
On September 12th, 2004, dive gear, later identified as that worn by Danielle Gibbons on the day she disappeared, was found floating along a beach on the eastern side of Yasawa Island by a local woman. (Yasawa Island is approx. 70 miles NW of the dive site, and had been searched by air several times before) The equipment included the B.C., tank, and regulator - all still set up. The tank was empty, and the depth gauge was analog (Danielle used a wrist mounted computer). The equipment had damage that seemed to be consistent with being dragged over a reef (scratches, gouges etc). The corrugated hose on the BC has been torn free of the dump valve and the rear dump valve was also missing, therefore the BC was unable to hold air and most likely floated due to the empty tank. The equipment did not show any obvious signs of being attacked by sharks (i.e. no shark bite marks), and the buckles across the front of the B.C. were found intact and unbuckled.
Earlier theories that counter-currents had pushed them east or north had been considered, but now that a confirmed direction that Danielles equipment (and possibly Dan and Danielle) had taken was established, a more focused search by boat was initiated in the surrounding areas of the Yasawa Island group and the areas along the northern coast of Viti Levu. Unfortunately, as of this writing, nothing more has been found. The family of Danielle Gibbons has posted a $10,000 reward to anyone who finds Danielle and Dan and all our hopes are that this will motivate everyone there to get out and look around any areas we might have missed.
A fund is being set for Dans two sons Cory and Dakota, and information on how to contribute will be passed along in the very near future.
The following people should be recognized and thanked for their generous and unending support in helping deal with this situation with their time, energy, equipment, and financial support:
The family of Danielle Gibbons
Alisi Grenier, Mike Agnew, Molly Murphy, Lynette Mercer, Jioji, and everyone at Crystal Divers
Nick Haenig and everyone at Bamboo Beach Resort
The Raki Raki Police Department
Mike Dennis
Zim Gervais and everyone at Le Cousteau Divers
Bola and Moira
Curly Carswell and his helpers from Savusavu and Yasawas
Islander Shipping
Nananu-i-ra Island Lodge
The Pacific Flying School
Pacific Island Sea Planes
Pacific Crown Helicopters
Eddie and George of Dive Tropex
Stevie and boys of Ra Divers
Mike and Julie of Kai Viti Divers
Ratu Meli
The Fiji Navy
Fiji Visitors Bureau
The American Embassy
Anthony Burgess of the Australian High Commission
The kind residents of Nananu-i-ra who kept the coffee and scones coming for the search and rescue volunteers on phone and radio watch.
But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shall rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of days. Daniel 12.13
