In 2010, He Went Diving In An Underwater Cave In Florida And Was Never Seen Again Despite Extensive Search Efforts, Sparking Sinister Theories
In 2010, 30-year-old Ben McDaniel relocated to Santa Rosa, Florida, hoping to get away from his unhappy marriage and failed business endeavor.
So, he moved in with his parents, and the coastal locale was ideal for Ben – who enjoyed diving.
However, after Ben visited Vortex Spring and decided to dive into an underwater cave on August 18, 2010, he was never seen again.
Vortex Spring is located hours away from the tourist hotspots of Disney World and Orlando, but it is still a popular destination. It’s known for remaining a perfect 68 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year, welcoming countless tourists who hope to camp, swim, and dive. The spring also has a 200-foot basin, which links to an underground cave system.
Despite the fact that Ben visited Vortex Spring often, though, he was never considered to be an experienced diver.
Nonetheless, on August 18, 2010, Ben visited the spring yet again – wearing a wet suit, fins, and a dive mask. But this time was unlike any other dive.
Two days later, on August 20, employees at the dive shop realized that Ben’s pickup truck had remained in the same parking spot for days. At that point, he was reported missing, and the spring was closed while authorities investigated his disappearance.
Upon inspecting the vehicle, investigators saw no signs of a struggle at Ben’s car. Additionally, all of his personal belongings had been left behind, including $1,000 in cash.
So, the search efforts then turned to the water – with police divers spending days scouring for Ben. At the same time, cadaver dogs recognized Ben’s scent both along the spring bank as well as in the water.
Angiolo – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
After the water was sampled, though, the health department didn’t find any spike in bacteria that would indicate decomposition.
Witnesses then began to come forward, with some claiming to have seen Ben descending towards the cave on August 18. The cave was located 300 feet from the cavern’s entrance, and a warning sign featuring the Grim Reaper awaited at the mouth of the cave. In all capital letters, it read, “Prevent your death. Go no farther. There’s nothing worth dying for.”
Next, Ben reportedly approached a locked gate – which guarded the cave’s entrance and was accessible only to experienced divers with a key.
Now, since Ben was not an experienced diver, he didn’t have one. A man named Eduardo, on the other hand, had both diving expertise and worked at Vortex Spring.
He and Ben had become acquainted with each other over the prior months. So, when Eduardo saw Ben trying to unlock the gate, he got his own key and unlocked the gate for him – enabling Ben to travel through. This marked the last time Ben was ever seen again.
Eduardo reportedly passed a polygraph test regarding this timeline of events. And in the ensuing years, seasoned divers kept searching the spring in hopes of helping Ben’s parents – who had offered a reward and desperately wished to find their son.
But, despite prior police efforts, there were still certain areas of the spring that remained unexplored due to danger and lack of expertise among law enforcement personnel.
Still, one man named Ed Sorenson, a proficient diver and owner of a dive shop, meticulously combed through the spring’s depths anyway. Maneuvering through narrow crevices that would have posed a challenge for Ben, who stood at 6’1″, Sorenson remained dedicated to examining every inch of the cave system that he could.
And while Ben remained missing, divers did uncover two decompression tanks typically utilized by divers to prevent decompression sickness during ascent. It was believed that these tanks had been left behind by Ben himself.
Aside from the discovery of the two tanks, no one found any other trace of Ben. His wet suit, fins, dive mask, and body were never recovered.
Exactly what happened to Ben has also puzzled many divers, who think he isn’t inside the cave.
Kevin Carlisle, one of the seasoned divers involved in the search for Ben, said, “We may never know the truth of where he is, but we do know where he isn’t, and that is because of a lot of talented and qualified divers.”
Despite thoroughly exploring the narrow passages, the divers found no indications of human activity. Limestone surfaces showed no marks indicative of contact with a diver’s helmet or tank against the cave ceiling. Plus, there were no signs of activity from aquatic scavengers, which would likely be attracted to the presence of a deceased body.
That’s why some people believe that Ben might have been murdered. His family even hired a private investigator named Lynn-Marie Carty to delve into this possibility.
During her investigation, she discovered some questionable individuals connected to Vortex Spring. Apparently, the previous owner, Lowell, had been accused of driving a former employee into the woods, accusing him of stealing money, and then violently attacking him with a baseball bat.
The ex-employee was able to escape, but the incident left him so scared that he moved away with his family and vowed never to return.
Then, on the night Ben vanished, Lowell, who was drunk, reportedly showed up at the spring and asked if it was too late to go diving. Interestingly, Lowell died suspiciously two years after Ben disappeared. He was found unconscious at his home with head injuries.
However, the police would not treat the investigation as a homicide, which disappointed Lynn-Marie Carty.
Other people think that Ben might have faked his own death, given the personal struggles he was dealing with. His marriage reportedly did not work out, and he had money troubles – owing nearly $50,000 to the IRS.
Despite these difficulties, though, things were still starting to look up for Ben. He reportedly got a new girlfriend after relocating to Florida and was even thinking of launching his own business.
So, Ben’s parents refute this theory and believe that he wouldn’t intentionally try to hurt them.
This has left the McDaniel family still searching for answers in the case of Ben’s strange disappearance, and they continue holding onto hope that, one day, they may finally find him.
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