Thirty-three-year-old Thomas and twenty-eight-year-old Eileen had dreamed of travel all their lives. Together they had toured half the world, and for their tenth anniversary they decided to surprise themselves and set off on a round-the-world cruise. Eileen had practised professional diving since her youth and persuaded her husband to make a dive near the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea before the trip.
On 25 January 1998, together with a group of tourists and guides, the Lonergans set off by boat to their destination. They declined the help of the professional divers – Eileen and Thomas were confident in their skill, having already logged more than 150 dives.
The couple descended to a depth of 12 metres. Meanwhile, the crew got ready to head home – the staff of the diving company thought that all the participants of the excursion were already on board. They even counted the people. But they mistakenly counted one couple twice! Fully convinced that all the tourists were accounted for, the crew set off for shore.
It is hard to imagine what Thomas and Eileen felt when they realized they had been left behind in the open sea. The shore was 65 kilometres away, with not even a sliver of land in sight. Even if the couple had had the strength to swim to shore (but such a great distance cannot be covered by swimming!), they had no idea which way to head.
The company's staff learned of their disappearance only two days later. And that was by chance. They were assembling a new group of tourists and discovered the Lonergans' bag with their documents on the bottom of the boat. The organizers grew worried, but assumed the couple had perhaps simply forgotten their belongings. A call to the hotel, however, proved otherwise – Thomas and Eileen had not returned to their room.
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Rescue planes and helicopters took to the air, search teams combed the sea, but everyone understood that the chances of finding the unfortunate couple were vanishingly small. A strong current could have carried the pair too far from shore, and surviving more than two days in the open sea under a scorching sun, without water and surrounded by sharks, is impossible.
Only on 5 February did rescuers find part of Thomas's scuba gear. There were no bite marks from marine predators, which meant the man had removed it voluntarily. A few days later, Eileen's wetsuit was found – it had been torn to shreds. However, marine biologists, having studied the damage, concluded that the woman had torn the suit on the coral. More fragments of equipment were discovered on 13 February. The next day the search was called off…
Six months later, 160 kilometres from the Great Barrier Reef, local fishermen found a board with a piercing message – «Monday 26 January, 1998, 8:00. To anyone who can help us: we have been left at Agincourt Reef on 25 January 98 at 15:00. Please save us, send us help before we die. Help!»
10 disaster films that keep you holding your breath Had the search for Thomas and Eileen begun on the morning of the next day, they might perhaps have been saved…
Later this story formed the basis of the film «Open Water» – it was made in 2003.
Theories
The press put forward various hypotheses. Doctors believed the couple could have died both from a shark attack and from dehydration. There were even theories of a carefully staged escape – supposedly the Lonergans had faked their disappearance and were hiding somewhere from the authorities. But relatives refuted these conjectures – Thomas and Eileen had no one and nothing to flee from, they had no problems with the law or any debts. The relatives also condemned the theory of one spouse murdering the other and then committing suicide.
Incidentally, those responsible never received the punishment they deserved – no one went to prison for negligence. The owner of the diving company wound up his business and got off with a fine.
