Like other nightmarish experiences, Tom and Eileen Lonergan's dreadful fate turned into a film, Open Water. The saga recalled memories of American tourists Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind on a Great Barrier Reef diving trip in 1998 after boat operators miscounted the number of … However, one veteran Australian diver believes they were eaten by tiger sharks. It won best thriller at the Golden Trailer Awards, and Blanchard won Best Actress for her performance at the Saturn Awards. Where we are now goes beyond dependence, beyond love.". Please help us come to rescue us before we die. Brtion Richard Neely and his American girlfriend Alison Dalton recall their terrifying night in shark-infested waters on Australian television, Boris Johnson voices frustration as Test and Trace records worst week, Boris Johnson pledges to relocate ministers to the 'great north', Covid rules 'not understood by nearly 90 per cent of public'. United States, who had just recently completed a three year tour of duty Eileen was already a scuba diver and she got Tom to take up the hobby as well. tank attached. Then read about the mysterious disappearance of Percy Fawcett, the man who went searching for El Dorado. Image: AP Photo/Brian Cassey/AAP. To Outer Edge skipper Geoffrey Nairn was charged with manslaughter, but a jury found him not guilty. drowning, Although these disturbing writings from the Lonergans were mostly considered coincidental, some theories suggest the couple was carrying out a suicide pact or were the victims of a murder-suicide at the hands of Tom. On Sunday January 25, 1998 they set off on a dive trip to St. Crispin’s Reef, a popular site on the Great Barrier Reef, 25 miles off the coast of Queensland near Port Douglas. The two were never seen again, their bodies assumed to be lost at sea. Feature image: QLD Police/Lionsgate Film. Tom and Eileen’s diaries had disturbing entries that added fuel to the fire. "It was a much shorter time than that,” he claimed. [4][5]
never found. parents and family members. There was speculation in Australia that the theory of them Several months after their disappearance, a fisherman found a dive slate 160km away which read: "[Mo]nday Jan 26; 1998 08am. He and his wife had joined the US Peace Corps in the early 1990s and moved to Fiji to teach underprivileged children. Aerial view of the Coral Sea, where Eileen Lonergan were abandoned. Another theory suggested that the pair committed anyone [who] can help us: We have been abandoned on A[gin]court Reef by MV 48 hours after the couple went missing, a wide scale air and sea search was quickly organised, with everyone from Navy to civilians taking part. They sold their story for an undisclosed sum to the Sunday Mirror and are believed to be in negotiations with Australian and US television channels to recount their ordeal for around A$250,000. They were stranded Along with the date of January 26, 1998, and a time of 8:00 am, the slate read, "PLEASE HELP US OR WE WILL DIE.". were the Lonergans' belts dropped by them once they discovered the boat had Image: QLD Police/AAP.
It was only realized when Nairn found a bag aboard containing their personal belongings, wallets, and passports. They were off to dive St. Crispin’s reef, a popular dive site in the Great Barrier Reef. Their bodies were never found… This is what presumably happened to Eileen and Tom Lonergan on January 25, 1998, at St. Crispin's Reef, a popular dive site on the Great Barrier Reef, 25 miles off the coast of … Came across While police were investigating the case, another strange story emerged. The mystery deepened, however when items of the Lonergans' diving gear were found, apparently washed up on a beach more than 100 kilometres north west of where the couple had been seen last. and belongings was found on board the dive boat. Where we are now goes beyond dependence, beyond love.". His company, Outer Edge, pleaded guilty to negligence and went out of business.
It was the basis of an Australian feature film, “Open Water”, in 2004.
Nairn was found not guilty. Trailed by streams of bubbles from their aqualungs, they explore the intricate coral reef before surfacing. The passports of Eileen and Tom were found on the dive boat two days after they were left behind. Their disappearance was not realised for three days by which time Rescue members found some of the Lonergan’s diving gear washed up ashore. staging their disappearance was concocted to take the heat off the diving On January 9, 1998, just two weeks before their diving trip, Mrs Lonergan wrote a particularly alarming entry: "(Tom) hopes to die a quick and painly (sic) death, and he hopes it happens soon. Their faces peer out … It has peaked and it's all downhill from here until my funeral."