Missing Scuba's diver's body found......missing since 1981!!

[Fish_Whisperer]

I agree with you, Mr. X. Matter of fact, I've requested that I be cremated. As for my ashes, I couldn't care less. Flush 'em down the toilet, for all I care. When this vehicle is used up and I'm gone from it, I will be long beyond caring.

 

[RiverRatdiver]

(January 24, 2006) — Autopsy results have confirmed that the remains of a man found in the St. Lawrence River over the weekend are those of a Rochester man who disappeared while diving in the river nearly 25 years ago.

State Police Investigator Michael Marvin said an autopsy performed yesterday confirmed the remains were those of Brett Schirmer, 21 at the time of his death, who disappeared near the Thousand Islands Bridge in August 1981. He was diving with John Mott, also of Rochester, in a search for a ship that was sunk by pirates during the War of 1812.

Recreational divers discovered Schirmer's remains and some diving equipment — covered with soot and zebra mussels — Sunday in the narrows between Wellesley Island and the American bank, about 20 miles north of Watertown. The remains were on the river's floor, about 140 feet down.

Schirmer, a graduate of Charlotte High School and a Navy veteran, was diving with Mott, a co-worker, when he disappeared.

Mott told the Democrat and Chronicle and Times-Union in 1981 that he and Schirmer had been diving in about 125 feet of water when Schirmer signaled that he wanted to surface.

During the ascent, Mott said Schirmer appeared to go limp and Mott let go of him when he tried to inflate an emergency vest.

"I tried to get him to the surface, but I could not," Mott had told the Times-Union.

He said Schirmer was carried away by a strong current.

 

[Divmstr223]

Brett Schirmer and his friend, John Mott dove

Okay, so this guy wasn't diving solo...what happened to his buddy? If Brett was entangled in a fishing line or something, you would think that his buddy John would have been there or at least would have been able to tell the story of what happend.

Anyone dig up the story from 25 years back yet?

And if divers just found him sitting on the bottom sticking out of the sand, don't ya think rescue divers would have been able to find him rather easily 25 years ago? Perhaps there are strong currents in this River that moved him from the original location?

:14:

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Wow...Ok I'm not ready to find a body

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Brett Schirmer and his friend, John Mott dove

Okay, so this guy wasn't diving solo...what happened to his buddy? If Brett was entangled in a fishing line or something, you would think that his buddy John would have been there or at least would have been able to tell the story of what happend.

Anyone dig up the story from 25 years back yet?

And if divers just found him sitting on the bottom sticking out of the sand, don't ya think rescue divers would have been able to find him rather easily 25 years ago? Perhaps there are strong currents in this River that moved him from the original location?

:14:

The visibility in the pre-zebra mussel was I supect a lot worse. And in my experience drift diving in low visibility rivers it is easy to get separated. With significant current (greater than 1.5 to 2.0 kts) it can be almost impossible for a diver to get back upstream to rejoin with another diver, even if they know they are missing in a very short period of time.

If one diver is following another it is possible for the rear diver to become momentarily entangled and stop drifting or slow slightly while the other diver dissapears from sight in the limited viz in only a few seconds. Even side by side, the same thing can happen if you are looking somewhere else for the wrong few seconds.

The normal procedure in shallow water is to surface and regroup and re-descend, but in deep water it is surface to rejoin, abort the dive and exit the water.

A buddy line is one option, but one that makes me exceptionally uneasy in low viz drift diving as it creates an additional entanglement hazard.

My personal preference when drift diving in low viz rivers is for both divers to have their own flag. Then if some one is tangled on the bottom, the guy in the boat an detect the lack of progress and drop the other diver off to decend and assist. Alternatively, a diver can send up a lift bag or SMB to signal for assistance.

However if you are drift diving from shore with no boat available in deep water, it could be hard to get back to the upstream diver in time. But at least the recovery would be easier.

 

[lowridersvt]

I have done some shore drifts in really low vis probly 5-10 feet at night budy lines help alot. I have dove the st lawrence mutipel times lots of butifule wrecks . And i hope i never find anything like that on any of my drift dives

 

[H2Andy]

back in 1981, i was 14 and living in Rochester, N.Y. i don't remember this making
the news, but then again, i didn't read newspapers then, and didn't watch the
news on t.v. either.

i saw that they had found a body earlier, and i'm glad they've been able to positively
identify him as Brett. i'm sure he has living friends and relatives, and finding his body will at least bring closure to them.

always sad when a diver dies, even if it happened 25 years ago

 

[Courtneyf82]

I guess Im just spoiled by where I live, but fresh water really doesnt appeal to me at all, of course if I lived in the midwest or something, I would probably be all about the river, all the free refrigerators and trash you can handle.

 

[DiverBuoy]

I am rigged in a CCR with helium diluent. There is really no way to do a drift dive since the channel is criss-crossed by large freighters. It would almost be suicide to do a drifting deco. there. Generally there are wrecks to hug, and with the case of the Jodrey there are lines that run from shore to various parts of the wreck. There are lines to the stern that start @ 150' and run to shore where deep stops can be conducted. Often on these lines you are gripping on for dear life. Deep water scooters help a bit, but are easily overpowered in some cases.
[...]

Excellent thanks for the detail.

 

[miketsp]

How much deco did his computer require?