Casefile True Crime - Case 133: Tom & Eileen Lonergan

Episode Date: December 7, 2019

When American couple Tom and Eileen Lonergan set out to visit Australia, they were particularly looking forward to putting their diving skills to good use. On January 25 1998, they took advantage of the perfect weather conditions and boarded a charter boat at the Port Douglas Marina for a day out exploring the Great Barrier Reef. --- Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Episode written by Elsha McGill and Milly Raso  Episode researched by Erin Munro Creative Director: Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-133-tom-eileen-lonergan

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. The weather conditions in tropical far north Queensland on Sunday, January 25, 1998 were ideal for a day out on the Great Barrier Reef. It was hot and sunny with blue skies and the glass-like water was still and clear. Shortly after 8am, the 26 passengers who had booked a diving expedition with Charter

Boat Company Outer Edge Dive gathered at the marina in Port Douglas, a quiet resort town located 65km from Cairns, the region's largest city. Nine were certified divers, eleven were student divers, and six were daytrippers. All were excited to experience one of the seven natural wonders of the world and explore three of the 2,900 individual coral reefs that stretched over the 344,000km2 area. Five crew members from Outer Edge Dive were overseeing the day's activities, including the business's co-owner Jeffrey Nairn, better known as Jack, who was acting as relieving skipper.

The passengers were asked to store their shoes in racks by the dock to be collected upon their return, and at 8.30am, they boarded the MV Outer Edge to commence their journey. They visited three different dive sites throughout the day, arriving at their final destination of St. Crispin Reef just after 2pm. Located 38 nautical miles off the coast on the eastern border of the Great Barrier Reef, St. Crispin is a popular diving and snorkelling spot. It contains a spectacular abundance of marine life and coral formations, but with only four boat moorings, it is typically quiet.

Outer Edge Dived seldom visited the site, as it didn't offer much protection and was known for its chameleon-like quality, where the calm waters could quickly give way to fast-moving tides. The visiting divers entered the sea at around 2.20pm, with the warm 29°C water leading some to forego their wetsuits in favour of swimsuits. Although the water was only 20 metres deep, the Outer Edge crew members advised the divers not to go any deeper than 12 metres. After 40 minutes of exploring the reef, the passengers were called back to the boat to

embark on their 90-minute journey back to Port Douglas. They departed St Crispin at 3.20pm, with the crew serving food and chilled beverages to their happy and relaxed guests. The boat docked at the marina at 5pm, and after everyone had departed, the crew discovered a dive bag and a plastic bag had been left on board. This wasn't unusual, as passengers often left belongings behind by accident. The bags were set safely aside, with the expectation they would soon be claimed by their rightful owners.

The following day of Monday, January 26, a 17-year-old Outer Edge crew member was working on another tour when he came across six loose diving wets on a seabed not far from St Crispin Reef. Wets are worn by divers to counteract the buoyancy of their bodies and diving equipment, making it easier to move around underwater and remain submerged. It was odd for so many wets to be lost in such a remote location, but the crew member didn't think much of it and returned the items to the company. Co-owner Jack Nann called the find a bonus.

At 7pm on Tuesday, January 27, Nann noticed that the bags that had been left behind two days prior still hadn't been claimed. He peered inside the dive bag, discovering it contained a wallet, some papers, a t-shirt and dye glasses, while the plastic bag contained more clothing. The owner's diving equipment, including snorkels, wetsuits and fins, were nowhere to be seen. Nann then checked the inventory and realized that two rental air tanks were also unaccounted for. Feeling like he had, quote, been hit by a ton of bricks, Nann called another crew member

and said, I'm concerned that we may have left two divers on the reef. It looks really sus. News of the concerning discovery spread to other crew members, prompting them to gather at the Outer Edge offices to discuss the matter. Jack Nann had arranged the unclaimed contents of the diving bag on a couch and kept repeating to his staff. This is all very sus.

The wallet identified the items as belonging to an American couple, 33-year-old Tom Lonergan and his 28-year-old wife, Ileane. Their shoes were still in the racks at the dock, and staff recognized the clothing as having been worn by the couple prior to them changing into their wetsuits. Dive companies were required to keep details about all their passengers, including the addresses of where they were staying, and the Lonergan's accommodation was listed as the Walk About Hostel in Cairns. Nann called the hostel and inquired about the couple, only to be told they hadn't been

seen since leaving on their diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef two days earlier. Tom and Ileane met and fell in love while attending Louisiana State University in their hometown of Baton Rouge. They had a lot in common, both were raised in Catholic families and were dedicated students. They shared a love for the outdoors and enjoyed spending time together hiking and camping, with their families describing them as inseparable. In college, they both joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, and after graduating they moved to Jefferson, Texas, where Tom got a job as a chemical engineer

for the Air Force, while Ileane began working as a teacher. On June 24, 1988, they surprised their friends and family by eloping quietly in a private ceremony. Seven years later, in 1995, they fulfilled a lifelong dream of Ileane's by volunteering as teachers for the United States Peace Corps. They moved to the South Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu, where they lived without electricity or a telephone. Food and mail was delivered by boat once every six weeks, and although the work and the lifestyle

was challenging, the couple embraced the adventure. They were both passionate scuba divers, with over 80 dives each on their record, and they took to the waters whenever conditions were right. They loved learning about coral and fish, with their most unforgettable dive occurring in Fiji in 1997, when they swam with whales. Tom wrote about the experience in his personal diary, stating, �None of our other dives have been comparable. I just hope now that we haven't been spoiled.�

After completing their two-year stint in the Peace Corps, the Lonegans planned to return to the United States and move to Hawaii, so that Tom could study marine biology. They decided to spend three months traveling around the world beforehand, visiting Australia, Indonesia and France, stopping at some of the world's best diving spots along the way. Queensland was their first destination, and they arrived in Cairns on January 15, 1998, where they checked in to the Walkabout Hostel. They were eager to go diving right away, but tropical storms had stirred up the sea, resulting in murky waters.

The Lonegans attempted one dive, but were dissatisfied with the conditions, and decided to extend their stay in the hope that the weather would improve. When the water finally cleared up, they booked a trip through the Outer Edge dive company, and on the morning of Sunday, January 25, they caught a bus to the Port Douglas Marina for the boat's 830 departure. On each boat, a member of staff was designated the role of Divemaster. It was their job to maintain a written log of when each diver entered and exited the water.

The role of Divemaster for the Lonegans trip had been assigned to Cathy Traverso, but it wasn't unusual for crew members to swap jobs throughout the day. Records taken on January 25 showed that at the first two dive sites, Tom and Dyleen had been 10 to 15 minutes late to return to the boat. At the voyage's final destination of St. Crispin, they were recorded in the logbook as entering the water at 2.20pm, around the same time as everyone else, but there was no record of them returning to the boat. It was the skipper's responsibility to do a final head count after each dive to keep

track of the number of passengers aboard, but it was unclear exactly whether this had occurred. This realisation two days later sparked immediate fears for the couple's safety. After identifying Tom and Dyleen's abandoned belongings on Tuesday, January 27, Jack and Ian notified the police at 8.15pm, who arrived at the Outer Edge offices shortly after. Senior Constable Steve Burgess assembled the panicked staff and told them, Now is not the time to protect your backsides. Two people's lives may depend on what you tell me.

Honesty is the best policy. Regulations required that all scuba divers be isolated into different groups based on experience with a separate group for snorkelers. The crew recalled that Tom and Dyleen had turned down an instructor and had instead requested to dive together as a buddy team. Given they were experienced and competent divers, they were given permission to do so. Unlike most of the other divers who adopted to enter the warm waters of St Crispin Reef in nothing but their swimsuits, the couple had chosen to wear full 5mm thick wetsuits,

gloves and caps, and had each entered the water carrying a tank containing 60 minutes of air supply. When the boat prepared to leave at 3pm, none of the crew recalled seeing anyone left behind in the water, nor were any micro-bubbles which are released by submerged divers visible on the surface. Micro-bubbles could typically be seen within 200 feet of the reef, and the Lonegans weren't expected to have swam any further than that. The boat was anchored only 10 feet off the reef, and at the end of the expedition, diving

instructor Carl Jezanowski had cleared the anchor himself to avoid damaging the reef. As far as he was aware, he was the last person to exit the water that day. Carl said the boat's engine had run idle for 10 minutes, with the exhausts clearly visible underwater. Even if the Lonegans had swam in the wrong direction, this alone should have alerted them to return, although Carl admitted they may not have been able to hear the engine, as the sound may have been masked by the reef. Police asked the crew whose responsibility it was to maintain the passenger lock.

Cathy Traverso, who acted as divemaster on the day of the trip, said it was the responsibility of diving instructor Harold Closer. Harold agreed, but said Cathy also had a responsibility as she had taken the last dive for the day. Cathy was unsure whether the Lonegans returned to the boat, recalling, I thought I remembered somebody, I didn't focus, I just can't remember. The boat's manifest recorded 26 passengers, when asked if a headcount had been conducted before returning to shore, Harold Closer said, I think someone might have done one, I'm just not sure.

He later clarified, the skipper told me to count the number of passengers, I told the skipper 24, just then he said to me there are two people who just jumped off the boat, so I counted those two people, 24 plus 2 equals 26. After the expedition, a bus had been scheduled to take the 26 visiting divers from the Port Douglas Marina to their various places of accommodation. When Tom and Dyleen failed to show, the bus driver looked for them at an ice cream parlor, cafes and a pub, but was unable to find them. He dropped the remaining 24 passengers off and upon returning to the bus company office

informed operator Corinne and Scarnable of the situation. The bus company had an agreement in place where if they failed to collect a passenger, the two of boat operators were liable for their alternative travel costs. According to Corinne, she phoned out a reg and spoke to a man she couldn't identify, who confirmed it was okay for the bus to have departed without the Lonegans. As visitors to Australia, there would have been no one else to raise the alarm when the couple failed to return to their hostel that night. The United States consulate in Sydney was notified that the Lonegans were missing, who

in turn broke the news to Tom and Dyleen's families, informing them that they shouldn't get their hopes up that the couple would be found. At 10.20pm, the National Headquarters of the Australian Search and Rescue Service were informed and a wide-scale search was organised to commence at first light. Due to the two-day delay in anyone noticing Tom and Dyleen's absence, the search grid had to be quadrupled. By 6am the following morning of Wednesday, January 28th, the couple had been lost at sea for 63 hours.

17 aeroplanes, two helicopters and numerous boats manned with police and divers commenced the search. They were joined by the MV Outer Edge with Jack Nann at the helm. Dozens of volunteers also assisted, with private boats, local charters and fishing vessels scouting the waters. Navy divers focused on the area around St Crispin Reef known as Fish City, where another diver had last seen the couple swimming 12 meters deep. Twelve hours of intensive search efforts covering a vast area of sea and sky uncovered

no trace of either Tom or Dyleen. That same day, authorities began an investigation into why it took two days before anyone noticed the couple missing. Detectives were called in and the Queensland State Government launched its own urgent investigation. It was difficult for investigators to establish a clear timeline of events preceding the disappearance, as records kept by Outer Edge were ambiguous and some appeared to have been altered. Timings recorded in the crew's personal logbooks didn't align with the vessel's official log nor with witness statements.

Estimates as to when the MV Outer Edge departed St Crispin Reef varied within half an hour of 3pm and its arrival to Port Douglas was reported as any time between 4.30pm and 5pm. The full-scale search resumed at first light on Thursday, January 29. By this point, news of the couple's disappearance had been picked up by media outlets in Australia and the United States. Distraught family members told reporters about the failure of the diving crew to ensure the couple had boarded the boat with Eileen's grandfather asking, It sounds pretty ridiculous, don't they count heads or check names?

Tom's mother, Elizabeth Lonegan, stated, We had devastated that it could be a mistake. An accident is one thing, but if it was a failure on somebody's part to do what they should have, it's even worse. The families felt helpless being so far away and unable to participate in the search. Eileen's parents said all they could do was pray, with her father Johnny Haynes telling the media, We don't see how God can refuse our prayers, he has them in his hands, either he'll bring

them back to us or he'll bring them to him himself in heaven. The way, joy will be found. Detective speculated that the MV Outer Edge had left St. Crispin quicker than usual in an attempt to make up for lost time, as the expedition was already running 40 minutes behind schedule. Outer Edge diving instructor Carl Jezanowski told reporters that a head count had been taken before the boat left for sure, but the couple, quote, somehow fell through the system.

He explained further. They asked specifically not to dive with the dive master, so they were diving on their own, which is cool, but if they didn't dive the plan, then all of a sudden they come to the surface and there's no boat there. By Friday, January 30, the airplane search was called off, but a Queensland Emergency Services helicopter remained in operation. It had been four days since Tom and Eileen were reported missing, and the strong currents could have carried them far from their last known location.

In addition, several storms hit the Coral Sea area on the days following their disappearance. A police spokesperson told the media the couple's chances of survival were now almost nonexistent. That evening, the air and sea search was officially called off, while police and volunteers continued to scour the coastlines. On Sunday, February 1, an inflatable buoyancy lifefest was discovered at Cowey Beach, a crocodile infested area roughly 65km north of where Tom and Eileen were last seen. Written on the left-hand side of the vest were the words Tom Lonegan, Peace Corps, Fiji.

Police initiated a search focused around Cowey Beach, but didn't find anything else of significance. Only one week later, on Sunday, February 8, a scuba diving fin marked Eileen L was recovered on the remote Northern Island of Indian Head, 80km north of where Tom's vest was found. Its island location sparked hopes that the couple may have reached land and could still be alive. Over the following days, other items were recovered, including an underwater camera, two dive tanks, and a dive hood and buoyancy lifefest with Eileen's name on them. All items were in near-perfect condition, and both lifefests had been unbuckled, indicating

they had been deliberately removed. Around the same time, an employee of another diving tour company named Quicksilver found the green and gray women's wetsuit matching Eileen's size snagged to a pontoon. Scientists from the University of Queensland examined barnacle growth on the zipper and determined it had likely been submerged in the ocean since January 26. Tear marks along the buttocks and armpit area were rumoured to have been caused by sharks, but were later determined to have resulted from contact with coral. Considering Eileen's wetsuit wasn't custom made, it would have caused terrible chafing

around the back of her legs and under her arms within several hours. Likely delirious from prolonged exposure to the sun, experts believed she likely removed it in a desperate attempt for comfort. This act would have required her to remove her fins, explaining why they had washed up on shore. Without either of these items, it wouldn't have taken long for Eileen to reach a point of sheer exhaustion and dehydration, and fall into unconsciousness. Authorities had maintained a tight-lipped approach throughout their investigation, but

in late February, a police spokesperson disclosed. The most basic and most blunt thing we can say is that it is quite clear that they were left behind at sea, and although we cannot prove this, that they have perished. The rest is quite a mystery. On March 7, 1998, it was announced that the Outer Edge Dive Company would face charges for alleged breaches to Queensland's Workplace Health and Safety legislation. Eileen's parents and brother arrived in Australia later that month, and on April 1, they held a memorial service for Tom and Eileen at St. Crispin Reef, placing two bouquets of flowers

in the ocean as a minister read Bible passages aloud. Eileen's brother, John Jr., told the media, We came to Queensland fully realizing that we will never see Eileen and Tom again. To go to St. Crispin's was very important for us. We will return home with memories of a very beautiful place where Eileen and Tom lost their lives, and of the generosity and hospitality of the people of Queensland. These surrounding Tom and Eileen's mysterious disappearance were abundant, and on June 27, Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper suggested that the couple may have faked their own deaths.

Supporting this theory were the ideal sea conditions at the time of the dive, which some felt would have made it easy for the pair to make the six kilometres swim north to the nearest brightly lit pontoon that was permanently moored at Adjunct Court Reef. There was also another diving boat anchored six kilometres south of St. Crispin, a fishing boat to the north and sightings of a third boat in the area. A channel marker beacon, a partially submerged device used to identify safe water channels to navigate through, was also situated on the western side of St. Crispin, and the north westerly current led to a nearby sand bank.

In addition, the couple's decision to don full diving gear was viewed by some that they were prepared to navigate the ocean for an extended period of time. The lack of damage to their recovered items suggested they may have intentionally discarded their equipment to create the illusion they had been lost at sea. Reports emerged that in 1985, a man named Milton Harris, who also came from the Lonegan's hometown of Baton Rouge and was a fellow member of their church, had staged his own disappearance from a ship in waters off New Zealand for the purpose of making a fraudulent insurance claim.

Some believed this story might have inspired the Lonegans to stage their own deaths, but it seemed unlikely, as their combined life insurance policies only amounted to US$45,000. Their policy had been paid out, and the couple's bank accounts remained untouched. In the weeks following their disappearance, 26 alleged sightings of the couple were reported across Australia, none of which were deemed reliable. Authorities also felt the couple would have encountered great difficulty trying to hide when their faces were plastered all over national newspapers and television reports. Graham Connit, a member of the Port Douglas Marine Tours Operators Association who ran

the local dive centre, believed the conditions were mild enough and there was an ample amount of light remaining on January 25 to enable Tom and Dyleen to reach the pontoon or other boats in proximity. He told The Age newspaper, There is no indication at this stage that they have been killed at sea. There are no bodies. The equipment found has not been shredded. It is almost impossible for them to be taken by a shark.

There are not big sharks in the reef area where they were. There are white-tipped reef or black-tipped reef sharks. They are docile, two-meter sharks. I've never heard of an attack by any of these. And if there had been one, there would have been remnants of wetsuits and bodies somewhere. There is absolutely nothing. Graham also said an unidentified boat had been sighted at the reef the day Tom and Dyleen went missing, implying it had picked up the pair and brought them to shore.

Unsubstantiated theories pertaining to the couple's survival were rumoured to have been started by those within the dive industry. In the mid-1990s, approximately 1.3 million divers and snorkelers flocked to the Great Barrier Reef each year, resulting in 4 million day trips to the reef annually. The dive industry provided employment to roughly 50,000 people and generated $4.3 billion per annum. If it was determined the Lonergan's death was the fold of a professional dive tour company, the entire industry would be negatively impacted.

The Guardian newspaper claimed that Tom Colrain, co-owner of Adderedge, the company at the centre of the scandal, was predominantly responsible for spreading the conspiracy theories. In contrast, case investigators were certain Tom and Dyleen were deceased. Lead detective Sergeant Paul Priest told Current Affair Show 2020, There's far simpler and safer ways to stage your own disappearance than to get on a boat, jump in the sea, have some expectation that there's going to be a flawed headcount, you're going to be missed on the diver log, or you're in collaboration with the skipper and crew of that vessel, or you've got a submarine somewhere in the neighbourhood.

It didn't take too much to realise that this wasn't a case of a staged disappearance, it's quite simply that they'd been left at sea. Regardless, the public obsession with uncovering the truth led to bizarre and desperate acts. Channel 10 reporters conducted an interview with Bob Sheen, a diviner who claimed he could find missing people. As they filmed him overlooking the Queensland coastline and making his predictions, a car drove past the filming location with a couple inside that the news crew believed were the Lonegans.

They chased the vehicle down, only to discover the pair were Australians. Other experts were certain Tom and Dyleen never left the Coral Sea. The several-kilometre swim to the nearest pontoon surrounding boats or Channel Market Beacon would have been a far more demanding venture than skeptics assumed. The pair only had five hours of daylight remaining to make the journey in blistering 35-degree heat against strong currents that would have been pushing them further out to sea. Professor Roger Hughes, an expert in oceanography from the University of Melbourne, explained that from a tidal viewpoint, the Great Barrier Reef could be described as a gigantic bathtub.

As the tide comes in, it fills quickly from the open sea. The ocean flows into the reef like water overflowing from a tub. On the ab of outgoing tide, a massive volume of water empties slowly into the ocean, across reefs and narrow channels called choke points. The area where the Lonegans had been diving was right near one of these choke points, as the tides had already started to turn by 3.30pm, moving at speeds of up to one knot. By 7.15pm, it was estimated the couple were likely carried three nautical miles west towards the coast, with no choice but to tread water the entire time.

When night descended, the rising tide would have flowed to the east, taking the Lonegans towards the outer wall of the reef and into open waters. An article featured in the age newspaper explained that in order for Tom and Dyleen to stay together, they would have needed to either hold hands or use their now weightless diving belt to bind themselves. Had they managed to survive the first night, they would have been severely dehydrated and disoriented by the following morning. Sharks on the days following may have given them the opportunity to collect fresh water,

though contrary to some reports, there were indeed deadly sharks present in the area posing a lingering danger. In the months preceding the incident, local fishermen reported seeing more sharks than ever in the surrounding waters off the reef. One said, There are tiger sharks out there. Tigers do not just rush in and bite, they take a couple of hours to make up their mind, and that is very frightening.

You lose your loved one to a tiger and you witness it, and no, you are next. Police had conducted a search of the Lonegans' hostel room and found their personal diaries in the safe, along with their passports and travellers checks. Both diaries included several entries that indicated the couple may have been going through some personal trauma, with Tom's writings noted as particularly introspective and somewhat morose compared to those of his wife. Investigators withheld the diaries' contents from the public, but clarified that neither contained anything that suggested that either Tom or Eileen intended to end their lives.

Nevertheless, the press circulated a new theory that the couple had either carried out a joint suicide or that Tom had a, quote, death wish and orchestrated a murder-suicide plot at sea. Some believed Tom may have wanted to die alongside his wife, but withheld this from her and allowed her to pass away unaware of his intentions, due to their religious beliefs that those who ended their own lives would be denied access to heaven. On April 22, 1998, almost three months after the Lonegans went missing, police confirmed that they were extending their investigation into the couple's disappearance based on new information that had come to light.

The day after Tom and Eileen vanished, a boat run by the Quicksilver Diving Company took a large group of Italian tourists out to the reef for a diving session. The skipper claimed to have heard American accents on board, which stood out against the Italian voices. A headcount was conducted when the vessel returned to shore, revealing three more passengers aboard than when the group departed. A month later, the owner of a Port Douglas bookstore told the press that on Tuesday, January 27, an American couple rented her store and purchased six postcards and two

maps of the Northern Territory. Unlike other American tourists who were typically chatty, this couple were timid and quiet. The mail said they had been working in Fiji and had only been in Australia for a few days. The store owner had reported the incident to police shortly after hearing of the Lonegans' disappearance, but it was weeks before they took her official statement. A police spokesperson stated they had included her report in their investigation, but believed there was a quote, �Reasonable chance she was mistaken.

If people are going to fake their own disappearance, why would they go back to the town you disappeared from and declare yourself as American from Fiji?� Weeks later, on Friday, June 26, 1998, two fishermen were trawling a mangrove swamp near Archer Point, 175km north of Port Douglas, when they came across a weathered diver�s slate. The device, similar in appearance to a small whiteboard, was used for communicating underwater. That read, Monday, January 26, 1998, 8am. To anyone who can help us, we have been abandoned on Agincourt Reef by MV Outer Edge.

Please help to rescue us before we die. Help. Testing of algae on the diver�s slate revealed it had been in the water for several months, and handwriting experts concluded the message was written by Tom Lonegan. The discovery contradicted the theory that Tom had carried out an act of murder suicide, with a quote in the age later stating, �It is not a message from a man who wanted to die, but a cry from a man and woman who were desperate to live.� By this point, the police had already closed the investigation and submitted the case to

the coroner to conduct a formal inquiry. According to their report, a team of nine officers had thoroughly and painstakingly investigated the case for six months. They concluded that Tom and Dylene Lonegan had been left out at sea due to unsatisfactory safety measures carried out by the Outer Edge Dive Company. The Coronial Link West took place in Cairns on Monday, September 7, 1998, and aimed to determine who was culpable for the Lonegan's fate. Several Outer Edge staff exercised their right to remain silent, including co-owner

and skipper Jack Nann and two other crew members who had important roles on January 25. Divemaster Cathy Traverso and the instructor allegedly responsible for the botched head count, George Pirahiv. It was revealed that senior constable Steve Burgess had taken covert recordings of his initial conversations with the Outer Edge crew on January 27, when the police were first informed the couple were missing. The recordings were played in court, during which the crew members sounded panicked and confused by the possibility they had left two divers at sea.

At one stage, Nann referenced the couple's belongings that had been left behind on the boat, saying, Tonight I looked in the bag and thought Jesus Christ, it's got a wallet and papers in it. Christopher Coxon, acting senior inspector with the Department of Employment, Training and Industrial Relations, spoke critically of Outer Edge's operations, concluding there was enough evidence to show the company had a history of leaving dive sites without conducting proper head counts. In contrast, a Cannes local who had participated in the January 25 diving expedition gave a glowing

review of the tour company, stating it was the best of 40 dives he had ever been on. He hadn't noticed whether a head count had been carried out at the end of the day. Testimony was given by Corinne Ann Skarnival, the operator for the bus company responsible for transporting the 26th member tour group to and from the Port Douglas marina on January 25. In her original statement to police, Corinne said she called Outer Edge that evening, explaining the Lonegans had failed to return to the bus. A man on the other line indicated it was fine for the vehicle to have left without them. At the time, Corinne denied knowing who she spoke to on the phone.

In court, she admitted this was a lie and that she had really spoken to Jack Nann. She withheld his name from police at the time out of a misguided desire to protect him, explaining. I thought he must be feeling absolutely terrible. I didn't want to hurt him. I now realize it wasn't up to me to make those judgments. Rod Punchin, a dive instructor, tour operator and member of the Queensland Government's task force on recreational diving, told the court that a stranded diver would likely discard their life vest because swimming in one was difficult and ineffective. He explained, The longer you have to swim, the worse you become.

A wetsuit would chafe, particularly under the arms. Eventually, you might think about taking the wetsuit off. Carl Jezanowski, one of the crew members aboard the MV Outer Edge, also testified. He had cleared anchor at St. Crispin on the day Tom and Dylene disappeared and didn't see any sign of the pair during the 10 minutes the vessel waited before departing for land. Upon returning to the docks, Carl noticed the couple's abandoned shoes in the racks but thought they must have belonged to crew members who were still on the boat. He described the headcount process as a fallible and inadequate system, stating,

Passengers are constantly moving around you. They're on holidays, they're chatting and drinking, wandering around. He vaguely recalled that the miscalculated headcount on January 25 was carried out by diving instructor George Pirahiv, that testimony provided by other witnesses questioned whether the headcount had been carried out at all. Following the third day of the inquest, proceedings were adjourned to allow the coroner and other court officials to visit and swim the reef to get a sense of the conditions faced by the Lonegans. Court resumed on October 1, during which experts debated the couple's outcome. Based on the relatively intact state of their recovered belongings,

it was deemed unlikely that Tom and Dyleen were attacked by sharks, but rather voluntarily discarded their diving equipment after succumbing to delirium as a result of dehydration. Without the buoyancy provided by their gear, the couple would have been unable to tread water for long and would have drowned soon after. When petty officer Brett Daniels of the Royal Australian Navy's elite clearance diving division appeared in court to discuss the search efforts, Outer Edge's legal counsel asked him, If you have two divers, both working with the usual diving gear and one of those divers wished to kill the other, how would that be achieved?

A heated back and forth ensued between the various legal teams, with the prosecution objecting to the query on the grounds that, quote, Navy divers are not assassins. They labeled reports that the Lonegans had a death wish as wild and unsubstantiated, objectionable, inadmissible nonsense, adding that investigators had disproven this rumour. Outer Edge's legal team pressed the matter, prompting the prosecution to call the allegation disgusting and slanderous. The coroner allowed the line of questioning to continue within a limited scope. Petty Officer Brett Daniels suggested one way for a diver to kill another was to remove the breathing valve from their mouth and then hold them under water until they drowned.

Over one week, 800 pages of statements and nearly 60 exhibits were presented to the court, with the age newspaper describing the inquiry as one of Australia's most extraordinary courtroom dramas. The prosecution concluded that the Lonegans had died as a result of Outer Edge and Jack Nance, quote, Slipshot a devil make air attitude, both at sea and at shore. They said the lack of systems clarifying who was responsible for what led to a tragedy of errors and that the only mystery surrounding the case was why the crew had failed to wait for the Lonegans return. The prosecution recommended Jack Nance face criminal charges, saying he abdicated his responsibility for his passengers. On Friday, October 9, the coroner presented his findings.

He called the speculation that the couple were still alive had faked their own deaths or carried out a suicide, wildly inaccurate and based on misleading information. He criticized the 51 hours it took for Jack Nance to realize the Americans were missing and committed him to stand trial for the manslaughter of Tom and Dylene Lonegan by criminal negligence. There were no adverse findings against the remaining Outer Edge staff who were described by the coroner as inexperienced relief crew. Queensland State Government also announced that Nairn would be facing separate charges for breaching state health and workplace safety laws. Outside court, Nairn appeared visibly upset and proclaimed his innocence.

Dylene's mother, Kathy, welcomed to the end of the painful inquest, telling reporters, We hope the Government of Queensland will formulate some laws to govern the dive industry, which is a dangerous industry right now. Following the inquest, a government task force was assembled to look into Queensland's dive industry. On November 5, a draft report found that the voluntary nature of the current safety guidelines had proven problematic and called for all basic safety standards to be made compulsory. The proposed regulations included mandatory headcounts, individual logbook signing upon entering and leaving the water, trained lookouts on all boats, and the employment of more diving

inspectors. Task Force Chairperson Clive Bub recommended that operators who failed to comply with the new regulations be prosecuted, stating, It's time for the dive industry to look at the fact that there needs to be something done about the deaths and the incidents which have been occurring. In November 1999, Jack and Anne's trial commenced in the Cairns Supreme Court, where he pled not guilty to charges of criminal negligence causing two counts of unlawful death. If found guilty, he faced a possible prison term of 20 years, presiding judge Justice Stanley Jones warned the jury to ignore the publicity surrounding the case because much of it was irrelevant or inadmissible. He clarified that it wasn't a question of whether Anne acted with intent to

kill the Lonegans, but whether he failed in his duty to keep his passengers safe. Outer Edge crew members testified that while headcounts were routine, no one in particular took responsibility for conducting them. A transcript of an early police interview with Anne was read to the court, in which he said, I will accept full responsibility, for I am the master of the vessel. It was my understanding that the instructor did account, but it is all a bit sketchy. I asked George, did he count those two people and he said yes. I distinctly remember saying, did you get those two people who jumped in the water? The prosecution stated that any confusion regarding the headcount or whether a couple

had jumped back into the water could have been easily rectified if a crew member had simply checked the dive log, which would have revealed the Lonegans hadn't returned. Nance defence lawyer Tony Glynn relied heavily on the theory that the couple had ended their own lives or faked their own deaths. Tom and Dyleen were prolific diarists and he used excerpts from their entries to suggest Tom was developing an increasingly bleak view of life and looking for a quick and peaceful death. He told the jury that Tom was discontented with his future, Eileen had grown to hate teaching and that contrary to outward appearances, the couple were unhappy in life. Much to the pain of Tom and Dyleen's families, he read out excerpts from both diaries,

revealing their personal and private content publicly for the first time. In one entry, Tom was highly critical of his personality, describing himself as obnoxious, overbearing, presumptuous, intrusive, irrelevant to the point of insensitive, self-centred, and offensive. In another, dated June 16, 1997, Tom wrote that he was, quote, in death's waiting room. Appearing to address his writings directly to God or Jesus, he explained, like a student who's finished an exam and is merely waiting to hand it in and go, I feel as though my life is complete and I am ready to die. However that sounds to someone else, it is what I feel in my heart. On December 15, 1997, Tom wrote about the

joys of making love to his wife, but added a passage that read, It's clear to me now that not only does life not get much worse than this, it hardly, in fact, gets any better. Eileen's writings were directed more so to herself and expressed concern for her husband's well being. She wrote, You, Tom, have a death wish. I believe this wish may very well lead you to be in the right place at the right time to get what you want. I may get caught in that, too, since we remain physically together so much of the time. It's a risk I take. Two weeks before their disappearance, she explained,

Tom doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. He thinks he is ready to die. He seems to want to get out while life is good. I have my life and I am terrified by death. A couple of nights ago, Tom explained to me in great detail why he feels his life is over and he is ready to die. Mostly, he is afraid. She concluded a long passage with the question, Just as he formed his death wish to include me and I fought it off in my dreams, I formed my life wish to include him. Whose will is stronger? During closing arguments, the prosecution concluded that it was Nan's responsibility to bring the Lonegans home safely from the reef and he failed to do so.

In response, the defense told the jury, There are no bodies. The evidence suggests they are not dead. It is a question for you to decide. If you have any doubt about this issue, then you must acquit my client. On Wednesday, November 24, 1999, after less than 90 minutes deliberation, the jury found to Jack Nan not guilty. From the dock, it appeared as though an enormous burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Nan's father burst into tears while Lyleen's parents sat motionless. In summation, Justice Jones stated that in order to convict, the jury had to be convinced beyond the reasonable doubt that the Lonegans were dead, that Nan's actions were sufficient to

cause their death, and there was sufficient recklessness or grave moral guilt on Nan's behalf deserving of punishment. Justice Jones agreed that as the skipper, Nan was entitled to rely on the headcount conducted by his crew. He dispelled the possibility that the Lonegans' disappearance was a suicide plot or an attempt to fake their own deaths, as they had no transport, belongings, or money, and couldn't be certain the boat would leave without them or the headcount would be flawed. Justice Jones, quote, The absence of bodies leads to many theories, but it is a tragedy for Mr. Nan and it is a tragedy for the families of the Lonegans. Following the judgment, Jack Nan approached Lyleen's parents,

Johnny and Cathy Haynes. Shaking Johnny's hand, he said, I apologize, I'm so terribly sorry. Johnny gave him a hug and wished him luck, and Cathy embraced him warmly. Nan left the court surrounded by his wife, father, and other supporting family members and friends. Outside the courthouse, the Haynes thanked the Australian legal system and expressed compassion for Nan. Johnny later told 2020, Nan's life is never going to be the same. He doesn't have to get a jail for this to change his life. He's got to live with this for the rest of his life. He told reporters,

The defense attorney used those diaries to absolutely slander, to absolutely destroy these two people's reputations. I was disappointed in the verdict. I felt like the jury didn't believe that they were dead, and to me, that was the essence of the trial, was to prove that they had died. Lyleen's family struggled with what they called the defense team's deliberate, malicious misquoting of Tom and Lyleen's diary entries. Lyleen's brother, John Jr, staunchly rejected the rumors surrounding his sister's disappearance, telling The Age, I know my sister. My sister is not a con artist. I know she would not kill herself.

A former colleague of the missing couple told 2020 that the suicide theory angered him, explaining, That just wasn't Tom and Lyleen in any way, shape, or form. Tom's mother, Elizabeth Lonegan, said, These were two people who did nothing but good in their lives. Now in death, there are those who would cheapen them. I will tell you what the story is. They were left behind. That is the story. They could have been picked up by a spaceship, and if that happened, it would still not be the story. The story would be that they were left behind in the first place. All this talk about

them wanting to disappear is just a bunch of garbage. The fact of this story is that somebody left them in the water, and they did not report it for two and a half days. To prove that defense attorney Tony Glynn had cherry-picked from the couple's diaries by taking certain quotes out of context that read in favor of his argument, the families permitted the Sunday Age to publish further excerpts of the entries that had been presented in court. Glynn had quoted one instance where Tom was self-critical, but in another entry, he thanked God for all his opportunities to live, learn, and serve. He expressed his gratitude for his healthy mind, emotional strength, and well-being, and referenced his profound love for Eileen,

his friends, and family. Glynn had also spoken of Tom's belief that his life wouldn't get any better, yet failed to mention that the entry concluded, quote. The trick for now is not to dwell on how long it will last, but to enjoy the blessings of the day and to let them bring you closer to God. Glynn had read an excerpt from Eileen's diary in which she said she hated teaching and hoped to never teach again, but had intentionally withheld the rest of the passage. It continued, But teaching has taught me how much I love learning. I am endlessly curious. I love beauty, and I see beauty in, well, most things, in logical patterns, in bright colors,

in the interconnectedness of things, in creation, in destruction. I think really that is why I love life and I love living, to witness beauty. I love to learn, because in learning, I discover beauty. I fear death, not just because I fear the unknown, but because of the beauty I will never see. Despite his web in the damp forest, the spider, the sunsets, the towering snow-top mountains, the knowledge of how those mountains got there, the moons of Jupiter and the sands of Mars. So much beauty to see in the universe. Sunday-age journalist Peter Patrick stated that by viewing the diary entries in their entirety, it was clear that Tom and Dylene were both highly intelligent people,

and that their comments on death were more a reflection on life itself. He described Dylene as a shrewd observer of human nature, while Tom veered losing the things he loved most, including his wife, his intellect, his students, and diving. The Outer Edge dive company pled guilty to negligence in a Queensland civil court, and was fined $27,000 by the state's Workplace Health and Safety Department for failing to keep an accurate logbook. The case left Jack Nairn financially ruined. He and his wife lost the boat, their house, and life savings, and his father lost the substantial amount of his assets to legal fees. In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Age, Nairn said,

I don't blame the Lonegans. I don't blame the crew. I don't blame anybody. At present, I'm undergoing a healing process. I have a deep feeling of responsibility and remorse. He said he wished he could have known Tom and Dylene better as they shared his love for the sea, and he hoped to one day own his own boat again. The Lonegan incident sparked a crisis of confidence in North Queensland's dive industry, and resulted in tighter mandatory safety regulations for diving boats throughout Australia. Strict regulations were introduced by the Queensland Government, with all captains and dive masters required to independently confirm each headcount.

Despite the new regulations, an inspection of 59 dive companies was carried out by the Queensland Health and Safety Department in 2002, resulting in 76 notices being issued for failure to conduct proper headcounts or lookouts, or to keep adequate dive logs. In 2003, a low-budget film said to be inspired by the Lonegan story titled Open Water was released, grossing more than $1 million in its opening weekend. It received mostly positive reviews from film critics, but its release was unwelcoming cans, where locals were still unwilling to discuss the case. People were concerned that the film would harm the local diving and tourism industry,

as had happened with the release of Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic shark attack movie, Jaws. A dive industry spokesperson recalled, Jaws was a shocker for our industry. I was working at a dive place in Brisbane at the time, and to the phones literally stopped ringing. Jack Nairn expressed his disappointment about the film, saying, The reality of it is that the thing creates emotional turmoil for all of the people involved. It's incredibly unsettling and stressful for myself and my children, and for us it's a terrible thing that Open Water has been made.

This is really very bad for the industry as a whole. Dive Queensland spokesperson Cole McKenzie told reporters that the industry found the film confronting on many levels, quote, I felt horrified. For me, it was an eye opener. This can happen and has happened. And the Lonegans are not the only ones we have left out there. Tom and Dyleen weren't the first or last to be left behind while visiting the Great Barrier Reef. In 1993, 16-year-old Victoria Brown was left near Green Island, 28 kilometres east of Cairns, and subsequently drowned. In January of 2000, 80-year-old American tourist Ursula Margaret Clutton was snorkeling on the reef during a tour with the Quicksilver Diving

Company when a headcount of 300 passengers came up short. The Australian search and rescue team covered an area of 625 nautical miles looking for Ursula, but it was called off three days later when there was no sign of her. In 2003, Queensland's scuba diving industry received another blow when 26-year-old American newlywed Tina Watson died on her honeymoon while diving the Yongala shipwreck site in the Great Barrier Reef. Rather than the dive company being at fault, Tina's husband Gabe Watson was initially charged with her murder and later pled guilty to manslaughter, detailed further in episode 51 of Case File. In September 2005, two British tourists became separated from their dive group after being caught by a powerful current between two reefs.

The dive instructors only noticed their absence when a headcount was conducted at the end of the trip. Plains and boats were called in and the dehydrated and sunburned pair were discovered six hours later, having drifted nine kilometres from where they first entered the water. No indication of misconduct was found in either of these cases. In 2008, a couple became separated from their diving group after strong winds and waves forced them to drift 200 metres from their boat. The group immediately noticed they were missing and searched the reef for three hours before night fell and forced them to return to shore. The couple tied themselves together with rope from a marker boy and were rescued at 8.40 the following morning

after 19 hours lost at sea. In June 2011, an American tourist was snorkeling on the reef when he lifted his head out of the water only to discover that his tour boat had left without him. Panicked, he was able to swim to another boat for help. A staff member was fired for failing to get the snorkeler's signature to confirm he had returned to the vessel before it left the area. The Lonegan case was also referenced in the open world survival video game Stranded Deep by Australian studio Beam Team Games. The story follows a plane crash survivor marooned in the Pacific Ocean and his efforts to return to civilisation. A diving slate bearing the desperate handwritten request for help by Tom Lonegan can be found in game lying on a beach.

When placed in the player's inventory, the item is described as awesome. Despite an inquiry and trial ruling otherwise, theories still prevail that the Lonegans either ended their own lives or faked their own deaths. Tom and Dylene's families vehemently reject these claims and maintain their belief that the couple's tragic death was due to the abject failure of the Outer Edge crew. Eileen's father, Johnny Haynes, does not hold any heart feelings against the former dive company, accepting that it was an accident. His biggest regret is that no trace of Tom and Dylene's bodies were found, telling The Guardian newspaper, It leaves a big hole in you to lose your kid. That's part of your life.

I wish they had found them so we had something. I suppose we have the Great Barrier Reef. They're part of that. In the early 2000s, Eileen's younger brother John Haynes Jr. published a detailed essay online reflecting on the case. He described Tom and Dylene as warm, kind-hearted people who had once welcomed him into their home at a very difficult time in his life and helped guide him on a path to success. John said anyone who thought otherwise should, quote, have their head examined, explaining. Tom and Dylene were at a point in their lives that most people don't reach until they are 65. They weren't wealthy, but they didn't want or need more than scuba gear and a place to sleep.

They could have settled down in Hawaii and spent the next 30 years working just enough to support their diving and being happier than some millionaires have met. To Dylene and Tom, their life was just beginning. Their plans were coming to fruition. John urged people not to focus on the tragedy of their deaths, instead saying, it would be better to remember Thomas and Dylene Lonegan not only as people who devoted themselves to making the world a better place for others, but as two divers who lived and died doing what they loved, in the company of the ones they loved. In what would be Tom's final diary entry, he wrote, I am reminded daily of my debt to my beautiful, faithful,

devoted wife Eileen, with whom God has blessed me. As we depart from one life and begin the usually difficult transition into the next, I feel obligated to verbally express my deep-rooted commitment to her. From my innermost heart, I make this pledge of devotion to Eileen. He then dedicates a short prayer to his wife before writing, because of the immense wealth of pleasure she has given me since we met, as well as all the discomfort and anguish which she has relieved. I give in return. The entry ends there abruptly and remains incomplete, with Tom never revealing what exactly he planned to give Eileen in return for her love.

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