PORT MACDONNELL, Australia (16 Jan 2009) — A medical condition may have claimed the life of a 47-year-old scuba diver off the South-East coastal town of Pt MacDonnell on Thursday. The man, from Lochaber, north of Naracoorte, was reported missing at 9pm on Thursday after he failed to return from diving alone at a popular location west of the town. The police helicopter joined with local emergency services to search for the missing man, known only as Greg, on Thursday evening, however his body was found early on Friday morning floating about 10m from shore. Police confirmed that air had been found in his (scuba) tank, leading locals to speculate that it was a medical condition, rather than a diving mishap, that had claimed his life. Neighbour Nola Johnston raised the alarm about 9pm on Thursday, after the man failed to return from his morning dive. "I was out the back painting when he gave me a wave before he set off," she said. "Early in the afternoon I noticed he hadn't come back yet, and about 7.30pm we started to worry and went for a drive to see if we could find him." Mrs Johnston and her husband Mick found the unlocked utility at the "Posties" carpark, and went for a walk along the beach to see if they could find their neighbour, before raising the alarm with the police. "We were shocked when we found out he had died," she said. "We keep expecting to see him pull in next door, he was such a lovely man who kept to himself." Periwinkles Café owner Peter Zeitz, who formerly owned the town's diving store, said the man was an experienced and safe diver, who regularly dived alone. "He rang yesterday morning to see what the sea was like, as he often did, and I told him it wasn't ideal but he's certainly dived in worse conditions, so I said 'it's probably okay Greg'," he said. "He often dived alone and he was a very capable diver. "It's a shock when anyone dies." South East Police Operations Manager Senior Sergeant Steve Hill said the man's body was spotted from the shore by SES volunteers at 6.45am on Friday. Snr Sgt Hill urged anyone who had seen the man scuba diving in the area to contact authorities. | 
