| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gregg, David | 21 | Male | Fatality | Not recorded |
| Godard, Mike | 22 | Male | Fatality | Not recorded |
David Gregg (21), Mike Godard (22) and eight other university students were scuba diving in Blue Hole Lake near Santa Rosa, Guadalupe County, New Mexico. At 10:30 a.m. they began a dive. After a reasonable length of time Gregg and Godard failed to reappear. The State Police were quickly called and arrived on the scene at 11:35 a.m.
Search and recovery began at 12 noon and it was determined after the first dive that the victims were not in the main portion of the lake and had entered a cave leading off at a depth of 110 feet. On the 11th a search of the cave was undertaken starting at about 10:15 a.m. On the second dive, at about 2:15, Gregg's body was found in the second room at a depth of 125 feet. This body was recovered on the same dive but 11 more dives, up to a depth of 200 feet through March 13th, failed to yield the second victim. Operations were suspended when exhaust air from divers began loosening rocks creating an unsafe situation. On April 25 operations resumed and on the third dive the body of Godard was located at a depth of about 177 feet. Another dive was necessary to recover the body.
Underwater caving is extremely dangerous and should never be attempted on the spur of the moment. The exact cause of these fatalities is not known, but lack of fixed lines to indicate the path of return could have resulted in disorientation, then failure of lights and finally expenditure of air supplies. Drowning is not a nice way to die.
New Mexico State Police Report 3/11/75, 4/28/76. Alamogordo Daily News 3/12/76, 3/17/76. Albuquerque Journal 3/14/76, 3/16/76
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.