LAFAYETTE COUNTY, Florida (17 Feb 2007) -- A certified cave diver from Virginia apparently drowned this week while cave diving alone in a spring along the Suwannee River. The body of Ronald Wayne Simmons, 53, of Charlottesville, Va., was recovered at 5:48 p.m. Thursday, according to Lafayette County Sheriff Carson McCall. "He appeared to have complications with some equipment but that's all I can say right now," McCall said. "Our investigation is continuing but this looks like an accidental death." Simmons is believed to have entered the water wearing his dive gear sometime after noon on Wednesday in a remote area of northwest Lafayette County known as Allan Millpond Springs. The property is owned by the Suwannee River Water Management District and is open to the public. Simmons was reported missing when he failed to show up at a friend's house in Alachua County by 3 p.m. Wednesday as planned. After searchers found Simmons' vehicle near the spring run that leads to the Suwannee River and determined that his dive gear was missing, certified cave divers from around the area were called in to search for him underwater. The civilian divers found Simmons' body about 300 feet from the mouth of a shallow cave. McCall said equipment recovered at the site indicated that Simmons had been no deeper than 28 feet below the water's surface on his final dive. | | Based on available dive journals, investigators said Simmons apparently dove inside the same cave as many as 40 times before his fated dive. McCall said an autopsy will be performed by the Medical Examiner's Office in Jacksonville as part of the ongoing investigation. If the autopsy confirms drowning as the cause of Simmons' death, it will be the first drowning death of the year in Lafayette County. SOURCE - The Gainesville SunSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
