GILCHRIST COUNTY, Florida (24 August 2004) -- A weekend trip with friends turned deadly for a Tallahassee man who drowned early Saturday morning while scuba diving at Ginnie Springs. Brian Luke Tindale, 24, arrived with three friends at Ginnie Springs at about 8:30 p.m. Friday and set up camp, Gilchrist County Sheriff David Turner said. As two of the friends went paddling in a canoe while another snorkeled behind them, Tindale went scuba diving, Turner said. Before he disappeared, Tindale told his friends he had 12 minutes of air left in his tank. At 2:30 a.m., after 20 minutes without a sign of Tindale, his friends called 911, Turner said. Ginnie Springs recovery divers found Tindale in a cave at Devil's Ear Spring with his mouthpiece still in place, Turner said. Tindale was a certified open-water diver, but he did not have cave-diving certification, Turner said. | | Tindale had been an algebra teacher at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee for a little more than a year, according to the school's Web site. "Alcohol may have been a factor based on witness reports," Turner said. Turner said it would take several weeks before toxicology results are available. An investigation is continuing, Turner said. SOURCE - Gainsville Sun |
