Does anyone know if there is a way to find the details about a scuba accident in the Cayman Islands in Sept 1978, where a young girl died? Here's what I know: she was from Minneapolis, MN. Her first name was Michelle or Shelley. I don't know her last name. She was very pretty, blond, age 21 to 24 in 1978. She was the daughter of my mother's second cousin. I met this girl just one time, three months before her accident. I checked the Cayman Islands General Registry and they said that they could not help. I would like to find her last name or newspaper article, or any other details about the accident.
Scuba Accident Sept, 1978, Cayman Islands
- Thread starter G-Scuba
- Start date
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I would start with Ancestry.com and figure out her name from your shared genealogy. Once you have her actual name then contact some of the newspapers in the Caymen's about how to access their obituaries to see if and how her passing might have been described.
The University of Rhode Island's National Underwater Accident Data Center (NUADC) used to track diving accidents of US citizens back then. You should try to see if they have anything in their archives. NUADC work was transferred to DAN eventually.
Good suggestion, but I think that organization tracked accidents in the US, not accidents of US citizens elsewhere in the world. U.S. Underwater Diving Fatality Statistics
Many newspapers these days are digitized. See if the Cayman newspaper is available online from one of the newspaper archive websites. You may have to pay a fee. In the old days, it would be physical newspaper morgues or microfilm.
I would suggest determining her name, age, etc from your own family tree. What are the records for your mother's second cousin (I am assuming that this person has passed). Your post (and I'm not trying to be obnoxious here despite that being one of my character traits) is akin to "hey, you're from Seattle, I know this guy from there, do you know him?" My answer (which is a testament to my obnoxiousness) "of course I do. I loaned him $100 and then he disappeared. Tell that SOB I want my money back. it's been 3 months."
bradlw
Contributor
yeah, building on the ancestry.com idea.... add to knowing the name, also knowing the date of death....or even the month or season...
With that even though the news papers wouldn't be digitized (except maybe a scanned image) you could likely browse through the days following that date and find something fairly quick.
That was back when newspapers actually spelled out the who, what, when, where, and why; so I imagine you'll find at least some info.
With that even though the news papers wouldn't be digitized (except maybe a scanned image) you could likely browse through the days following that date and find something fairly quick.
That was back when newspapers actually spelled out the who, what, when, where, and why; so I imagine you'll find at least some info.
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