AGAT BAY, Guam (28 Sep 2004) -- The executive chef of the SandCastle drowned Sunday afternoon while snorkeling during a dive trip off Agat Bay. A dive company official identified the drowned man as Jeff Hilgenberg, although government officials yesterday were unable to confirm that. The phone directory lists Hilgenberg as a resident of upper Tumon. Hilgenberg also was known as Jeff "Hill." He was 35 years old and had lived on Guam since last November, according to the guamdiner.com Web site, which has a brief profile of him. Hilgenberg is the island's 14th drowning death this year, according to Pacific Daily News files. Hilgenberg was participating in a two-dive trip with the Micronesian Divers Association boat "Sea Fantasy" when the drowning happened, said MDA Assistant General Manager Jim Miller. Hilgenberg was snorkeling at the second dive site -- Hap's Reef -- Sunday afternoon, Miller said, while others on the trip dived using scuba equipment. The sky was overcast but the waters were calm that day, Miller said. Miller said other divers on the trip saw Hilgenberg dive unaccompanied to depths greater than 50 feet. Hilgenberg was participating in a non-guided trip, Miller said. At about 4:45 p.m., scuba divers who were surfacing and preparing to board the boat noticed Hilgenberg's body below them, floating face-up on the bottom, near the boat's mooring line. | | Miller speculated that Hilgenberg passed out before he was able to surface, then sank. The Coast Guard was called and Hilgenberg was brought aboard the dive boat and received medical attention from the boat captain and two other divers -- a local physician and a nurse -- Miller said. Hilgenberg was moved to a speedier dive boat and taken to Agat Marina, where firefighters were waiting on the dock, Miller said. Firefighters administered CPR as he was taken to Naval Hospital, said fire department spokeswoman Phyllis Blas. Doctors at Naval Hospital were unable to revive him, and he was declared dead at 6 p.m. and taken to the morgue at Guam Memorial Hospital, said Naval Hospital spokesman Lt. j.g. Jeremy Wilkinson. SOURCE - Pacific Daily News |
