BIG PINE KEY, Florida (28 July 2006) -- The Monroe Sheriff's Office on Friday identified the woman who died while diving for lobster during this week's mini-season as Judith Silcox, 47, of Cedar Creek Road in Palatka. Her boyfriend Ronald Maloy , 53, also of the same address, is still missing. The couple had been staying at the Sunshine Key Campground on Ohio Key. A motor home, a pickup truck and a boat trailer registered to them were found at the campground, Becky Herrin, MSO spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. Their boat, a 22-foot center console Proline, was found anchored with a dive flag posted just off shore between Big Pine Key and Little Palm Island. Silcox's body was found by other boaters, floating on the water's surface, around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Herrin said. The people who found the body called for help and Boat Tow U.S. responded, helping to pull her on board, and performing CPR until they reached shore. Paramedics met them at the Big Pine Fishing Lodge boat ramp and continued life saving efforts, but could not revive her. Investigation showed Maloy and Silcox, who were both certified to scuba dive, had rented four dive tanks from Paradise Divers on Summerland Key. Silcox was found wearing one, which still had substantial air in it, and two more were found on the boat. One tank is missing. Items belonging to both people were found on the boat. At that point, it was determined that Maloy was most likely with Silcox and that he was missing. A search of the water and area did not find anything. Herrin said there are no one reports of anyone seeing the two enter the water. It remains unclear what may have happened to them, Herrin said. An autopsy is scheduled for Silcox to determine the cause of her death. Her dive equipment has been taken into custody and will be examined, also, Herrin said. As of late Thursday, four people in South Florida had died during the recreational lobster hunting season that precedes the commercial harvest, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. "This does seem like a high number" of deaths, said Dani Moschella, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Of course, we feel a sense of sadness when we see this over the two-day period." Moschella said no official state records are kept tracking deaths related to the mini-season because local agencies usually handle diving deaths. Also Thursday, Herrin identified diver Joan Radford, 66, who maintained homes in Coconut Grove and Big Pine Key, as the woman who died Wednesday. | | Radford's Big Pine Key neighbor Diane Bleich, 68, was sad to hear of the deaths. "There's always a death during the two days," said Bleich, a 12-year-resident. "It really gets wild out there. Coming home yesterday afternoon, you could walk from boat to boat." SOURCE - Sun-SentinelBoat runs over diver In the waters off Boynton Beach, 51-year-old Darryl Savage received cuts on his head and shoulder. Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokesman Pete Palenzuela said Savage surfaced from a dive and was hit by the propeller of the 45-foot boat Katala around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The operator of the boat accidentally left one of the boat's two engines in reverse after backing up to pick up Savage about a mile southeast of Boynton Inlet, Palenzuela said. The propeller struck Savage's head, shoulder and scuba tank and shot him from the side of the boat. SOURCE - Palm Beach PostDiver injured by boat propeller Officials said a 23-foot boat ran over a 59-year-old man near Marathon. He suffered external wounds and was taken to Vaca Key for treatment. "Apparently, a diver, once he was in the water, the boat he had just came off of backed up and the propeller sliced part of his leg," said Lewis Diaz of the U.S. Coast Guard. The accident happened at about 7 a.m., just hours after the mini-season began at 12:01 a.m. In another accident in Fort Lauderdale, a small boat capsized near Port Everglades just after 9:30 a.m. when six people were diving for lobsters. No one was injured. "We were diving. The girls were on the boat, and it came up and started to go down and it just rolled over," said Doug Bloom, who was on the boat. SOURCE - NBC 6SCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
