Vortex revisited

[Couv]

Robert McClellan or Kevin Carlisle (or anyone with firsthand information) can you comment on some of the following quotes from the linked article?

"Taran, who came to know Ben in the weeks he was at Vortex, swam back to the cave and used his key to open it for Ben."

"...cadaver dogs sniffed the ground for hours. They found a scent of a decomposed body in two spots, one along the bank and one in the water."

"Air tanks were outside the cave entrance, a strange place for them,...”

Were these tanks full or had they been used?

Thank you,

Couv

 

[Jax]

Robert McClellan or Kevin Carlisle (or anyone with firsthand information) can you comment on some of the following quotes from the linked article?

"Taran, who came to know Ben in the weeks he was at Vortex, swam back to the cave and used his key to open it for Ben."

"...cadaver dogs sniffed the ground for hours. They found a scent of a decomposed body in two spots, one along the bank and one in the water."

"Air tanks were outside the cave entrance, a strange place for them,...”

Were these tanks full or had they been used?

Thank you,

Couv

All those were covered in the other threads. One complaint about the cadaver dogs is they were not water-trained cadaver dogs.

 

[57Writer]

Robert McClellan or Kevin Carlisle (or anyone with firsthand information) can you comment on some of the following quotes from the linked article?

"Taran, who came to know Ben in the weeks he was at Vortex, swam back to the cave and used his key to open it for Ben."

"...cadaver dogs sniffed the ground for hours. They found a scent of a decomposed body in two spots, one along the bank and one in the water."

"Air tanks were outside the cave entrance, a strange place for them,...”

Were these tanks full or had they been used?

Thank you,

Couv

Eduardo knew that Ben was breaking into the cave and he told me that he opened the gate for Ben, because he knew Ben had placed a rigged chain and lock on the opposite side of the gate. (which is really just a web of rebar, not a proper gate.) Eduardo stated that he knew Ben was attempting some penetrations, so he opened the gate for Ben, which would save Ben some gas, as he would not have to dig, unchain, unlock, pass through and cover it all up. Probably 4-5 minutes each way.

As for your other questions, I'll leave them for Kevin, or someone else who was there on the first recovery attempts.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

Robert McClellan or Kevin Carlisle (or anyone with firsthand information) can you comment on some of the following quotes from the linked article?

"Taran, who came to know Ben in the weeks he was at Vortex, swam back to the cave and used his key to open it for Ben."

"...cadaver dogs sniffed the ground for hours. They found a scent of a decomposed body in two spots, one along the bank and one in the water."

"Air tanks were outside the cave entrance, a strange place for them,...”

Were these tanks full or had they been used?

Thank you

Couv

Ok, Eduardo Taran and his dive buddy met Ben at the gate that night? Eduardo did not lock the gate back because they knew Ben had tampered with the gate system so he could access the deep part of the cave. They felt it was safer to open it and leave it for Ben than have him use his illegal method.
I will say this about the dogs once more. THEY WE'RE NOT WATER TRAINED. Therefor useless.
They we're given contact info for the closest water trained cadaver dogs but they did not use the information.
I dont remember a lot of the tanks now. One was missing the knob and there were not enough regulators or adequate deco gases. I would have had a tank with me, emergencies seldom happen in the basins.

 

[mike_s]

"Air tanks were outside the cave entrance, a strange place for them,...”

Were these tanks full or had they been used?

I dont remember a lot of the tanks now. One was missing the knob and there were not enough regulators or adequate deco gases.

Mat posted this back in November about the tanks.


[post=6120783]#6120783[/post]

There were two tanks, one about half empty, one more than 2/3rds empty, chained down in OW, neither with regulators, one with a broken valve. One had 36% and the other was full of air.

There was a rigged stage in the cave, full enough to be negative and lay flat on the bottom.

All of them were yoke tanks.

 

[Heath Sapp]

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I dont remember a lot of the tanks now. One was missing the knob and there were not enough regulators or adequate deco gases.

I don't know if you ever got to actually see the tanks, since we removed them on the first weekend.

I saw them(tanks in the basin) analyzed onsite, neither were full(not even close), neither had a regulator, one had a busted valve(and pliers to open the valve), one had air and the other had 36%. They were chained/locked to the airbell in OW.

There was another stage(rigged with regulator) actually in the cave, it was pretty full as it was laying flat on the bottom. I did not see this one analyzed, nor the pressure on it.

 

[Colliam7]

I don't know if you ever got to actually see the tanks, since we removed them on the first weekend. I saw them(tanks in the basin) analyzed onsite, neither were full(not even close), neither had a regulator, one had a busted valve(and pliers to open the valve), one had air and the other had 36%. They were chained/locked to the airbell in OW.
There was another stage(rigged with regulator) actually in the cave, it was pretty full as it was laying flat on the bottom. I did not see this one analyzed, nor the pressure on it.

I confess, I remain intrigued by this whole situation. And, your detailed post helps perpetuate that condition (I say that positively - thanks for the info). Maybe I am too suspicious by nature, but I look at the information available (including the cadaver dog issue), see the parents' rather persistently emphatic advocacy for someoine to dive to find the body, and wonder if this was set up. I mean no disrespect to anyone if it turns out otherwise, but (as others have said / implied) this whole situation seems bizarre. I won't say that 'it smells' (and therefore a cadaver dog should detect it), but I can see how police detectives become a bit jaded.

 

[Avonthediver]

Ya know not to be harsh or anything but this would make one hell of'a crime novel. As this story goes on it is seeming to morph into urban legend I'm just hopeing it just wont hit the movie screen as another Jason Voorhees horror fix! "Return of the Living Dead Diver!"




BUt all funny out of the way I think the dude has faked his death and is in Fiji...

 

[The Chairman]

Ben's Not Here
(Sung to the tune of "The Battle of New Orleans"

Here's a little story 'bout a poser named Ben,
Went cave diving, was never seen again!
Folks talked about it on the InterWebs
Many of them thought that Ben wasn't really dead!!!

-chorus-
He went side mountin' in a Spring they call Vortex
It's a real pretty place, in case you didn't know
Non cave divers should be stayin' in the basin
Without good training, you know you shouldn't go!

The cave divers came in and turned Vortex upside down
They searched every crevice, but Ben was never found!
Most people think that Ben was a big fool
If he's stil a living then he's also really cruel!

-chorus-
He went side mountin' in a Spring they call Vortex
It's a real pretty place, in case you didn't know
Non cave divers should be stayin' in the basin
Without good training, you know you shouldn't go!