Diver Missing, Lake Pleasant, Phoenix AZ Mar 13, 2014

[Jax]

MCSO: Diver missing at Lake Pleasant - abc15.com | ABC15 Arizona


MCSO: Diver missing at Lake Pleasant
abc15.com staff
Date: 4:29 PM, Mar 13, 2014
Updated: 12 mins ago


PEORIA, AZ - Authorities are searching for a diver that failed to resurface at Lake Pleasant Thursday afternoon.

According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, four divers were in the water above the old dam and only three resurfaced.

MCSO spokesman Chris Hegstrom said searchers are looking for the fourth diver.

Air15 video showed boats and a helicopter searching the water.

Hegstrom said the divers were diving off a pontoon boat. He said the missing diver was last seen around 2:45 p.m. and had about 140 minutes of air available.

---------- Post added March 13th, 2014 at 06:40 PM ----------

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Fellow divers say he was last seen around 2:45 p.m. and he had 140 minutes of air at that time. Jax edit: it is 6:40 here now.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Officer has dispatched a helicopter, several boats, and a dive-team to try and locate the missing diver.

Diver missing near Old Waddell dam at Lake Pleasant - FOX 10 News | myfoxphoenix.com

 

[TracyN]

Wow Jax! You beat Dandy Don to an accident post!

 

[rjk75]

Anybody know how deep they were diving? Wikipedia says average lake depth is about 70 ft (21m).

 

[diversteve]

Old Waddell Dam

The old dam is easy to find with a dept finder. Just come out north about 700 yards from new dam, look at both sides of the lake (when the water is low), line up the two hills that made the old embutments and you are there. When the lake is up, the top of the dam will be at a depth of about 100’. When the lake is down you’ll find the top of the old dam is at 35' to 40’. The depths off both sides (north and south) will be about 150 to 175'. The old river channel will be the deepest point.

Scuba Ed's - Lack pleasant

 

[N2DeepInAz]

They were diving the old submerged dam which has a max depth right now of about 250-260' on the downstream side and 150-160' on the upstream side.

 

[Jax]

MCSO: Search for diver now recovery effort
abc15.com staff
Posted: 4:29 PM, Mar 13, 2014
Updated: 5 hours ago

PEORIA, AZ - Maricopa County Sheriff's officials say what started as a search for a scuba diver who did not surface at Lake Pleasant Thursday, is now being called a recovery mission.

According to MCSO, four divers were in the water above the old dam and only three resurfaced.

MCSO spokesman Chris Hegstrom said searchers are now trying to recover the fourth diver.

Hegstrom said the divers were diving off a pontoon boat. He said the missing diver was last seen around 2:45 p.m. and had about 140 minutes of air available.

Sgt. Jim Kempher told ABC15 Thursday night that the divers were about 170 feet down in an area that is as deep as 250 feet.

Kempher said the diver is a male in his 60s and is believed to be very experienced. The name of the missing diver has not been released.

He said all the divers went into the water together and when they noticed one of them was missing they searched for about 15 minutes before calling authorities.

Kempher said the recovery mission will continue through the night using an underwater robot.

There aren't that many technical divers around AZ. :depressed:

 

[narcedoutscuba]

Do we know if it was a group of tec divers?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[N2DeepInAz]

Jax,

I hate to break it to you but that's an inaccurate statement. The tech community in Az has plenty of qualified divers capable of reaching these depths. I can think of 30 people off the top of my head just in metro Phoenix and there are many others outside of Phoenix. The problem is very very few of the are LEO and therefore are not allowed to assist due to LE protocol.

 

[tracydr]

Do we know if it was a group of tec divers?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

170 feet and 140 minutes of air in cold, dark water. I'd say it's a good bet. The dam is a favored spot for the tech community to train.

 

[diversteve]

Just on the noon news -

the diver was 63yr. old Nathan Sheffel. He and 3 buddies were at 170' in a 230' deep area - only 3 surfaced.

The sheriff's dive team is using a robot to look for the body since it may be in the debris field left when the old dam was breached so dangerous to send down divers.

I only caught the last minute of the report so there may be more info.

Different report:

Search resumes for missing diver at Lake Pleasant
Posted: Mar 13, 2014 4:28 PM Updated: Mar 14, 2014 12:13 PM
By Phil Benson - email
By Jose Miguel - bio | email

(Source: CBS 5 News) (Source: CBS 5 News)

(Source: CBS 5 News) (Source: CBS 5 News)
PEORIA, AZ (CBS5) -

A search resumed Friday morning for a missing diver at Lake Pleasant, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said.

MCSO has identified the missing man as 63-year-old Nathan Allen Sheffel, of Phoenix.

MCSO and Peoria Fire Department officials said four people were diving off a pontoon boat near Waddell Dam and only three resurfaced.

Sheffel was last seen about 1:45 p.m. Thursday "rapidly descending" to depths below 170 feet and deputies were called to search about 3:30 p.m., according to MCSO spokesman Christopher Hegstrom.

Deputies said Sheffel was an experienced diver and had 140 minutes of oxygen in his tanks, MCSO said.

"At this point, it is unknown if the diver is missing as a result of equipment failure or due to a medical issue," Hegstrom said.

A deputy said remotely operated underwater vehicles with sonar and cameras are being used to search the area that was about 230 feet deep, is very rocky and is the site of an old imploded bridge that left a lot of rebar exposed.

The search for the Sheffel was called off about 11 p.m. Thursday and resumed about 8 a.m. Friday.

Stay with cbs5az.com and CBS 5 News for updates on this developing story.