Decomposing body found on offshore oil rig off Gulf coast

[HHHH]

ABC13 Eyewitness News
(5/23/05 - HOUSTON) — Investigators are working to identify a body found on an oil rig miles off the Gulf coast.

Divers were checking out a rig in need of maintenance 68 miles off the coast of Freeport when they made the gruesome discovery. The body was badly decomposed.

Right now, investigators are not sure if the victim is a man or a woman. The victim was dressed in scuba gear.
(Copyright © 2005, KTRK-TV)

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/052305_local_body.html

 

[Doc Intrepid]

rescue doesn't always get there in time...too bad.

 

[tx.lakerats]

wow.... always sad to hear as there is a family that will be getting this news soon

 

[Lukiedukie]

I do not knwo what to say to this. This is sad news for the diving community. My thoughts go out to his family

 

[Foo]

Right now, investigators are not sure if the victim is a man or a woman. The victim was dressed in scuba gear.
[/url]

The link that you posted was the identical article... except for the quote above. The actual report was: "Right now, investigators are not sure if the remains are human. They were found near some scuba gear."

:dazzler1:

Foo

 

[Timeliner]

The link that you posted was the identical article... except for the quote above. The actual report was: "Right now, investigators are not sure if the remains are human. They were found near some scuba gear."

:dazzler1:

Foo

Yea... KTRK in Houston. 'Anything to make a story.

Hey....
Maybe They Found My Old Booties !!!

 

[TxWingnut]

I wonder how long before they make it into something it is not. Feel sorry for the person but watch the media hype start and they start bashing the sport. I will apologize up front for sounding cynical.

Bruce

 

[ReefGuy]

Have any Scuba Divers have been reported missing? If there were, the press would have picked up on it (I'm sure they still remember Open Water, and the guy getting left last year in California).

It just strikes me odd that nobody is reported missing and they find a dead scuba diver on an oil rig.

 

[Foo]

My point was that the initial post by HHHH says that the victim was dressed in scuba gear, and had not been identified as a woman or man. The actual report says that they are not sure if the body is even human, and that it was found BY scuba gear.

So, did KTRK change the article, or did HHHH get it wrong in the first place? This is weird.

Foo

 

[MichaelBaranows]

latest info.

Crew makes fishy discovery

By Michael Smith
The Facts Published May 24, 2005

FREEPORT — Federal agencies were beginning to peruse their missing persons cases Monday but changed course when skeletal remains found in the Gulf of Mexico were discovered not to be human.

The Misty Morn, an 84-foot boat contracted by Martin Midstream Salvage for site clearance work, was dragging the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in 190-foot waters about 68 miles southeast of Freeport on Sunday, said Charles Verdin, the boat’s captain.

“While we were doing that we picked up some debris and a couple of people on the boat had found some bones,” he said.

The crew found what they thought were a few vertebrae and part of a leg bone along with scuba gear and a backpack for a scuba tank, Verdin said.

A dive knife and glove also were recovered, Verdin said.

Crew members ferried the remains to Surfside Beach, where they were met by FBI and U.S. Coast Guard officials about 12:30 a.m. Monday, Verdin said.

The remains then were carted to the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office in Texas City, where it was determined the bones weren’t human, said Houston FBI Special Agent Luz Garcia.

“We were excited that maybe we had found someone, but it didn’t turn out to be the case,” Garcia said.

There are several ongoing searches for missing divers in the area, Garcia said.

The FBI took the scuba gear and traced it to professional diver Kenneth Cruse. Cruse told authorities he used the equipment as a dive marker and forgot about it, leaving it behind, Garcia said.

Garcia said the bones likely came from an animal, possibly a large fish.

Site clearance involves dragging nets along the sea floor to pick up debris left behind when an oil platform is removed, Verdin said.

Verdin, who said he has been dragging nets for about a year, said it is not uncommon to find foreign objects during site clearance.

Verdin has come across piping, concrete, pieces of large tanks and other oil field equipment, he said.

“We find mostly stuff that has fallen off the platform over the years,” he said.