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Tom and Eileen Lonergan

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Adventurer

The Resume

    Born in Louisiana
    Thomas Joseph Lonergan (December 28, 1964 – January 1998)
    Eileen Cassidy Hains (March 3, 1969 – January 1998)
    Married in Jefferson, Texas on June 24, 1988
    Accidentally abandoned in the Coral Sea off Australia's northeast coast during a group scuba trip and disappeared (January 25, 1998)
    Story was the inspiration for the 2003 movie ‘Open Water’

Why they might be annoying:

    Their disappearance (and presumed deaths) resulted in a ‘crisis of confidence’ in north Queensland's dive industry.
    It has been suggested that they might have deliberately failed to return to the scuba vessel in order to stage their disappearance (evidence claiming to support this includes nightclub partygoers claiming to have seen them the night of their disappearance and a skipper who returned to the reef area the following day who reported to have a headcount of two extra people).
    Another theory suggests that the Eileen fell victim to a murder-suicide at the hands of Tom Lonergan, or that the two entered into a voluntary suicide pact.
    Evidence used to support this claim points to excerpts from Tom's personal diary in which he talked about looking for a ‘quick and peaceful’ death (Eileen's own writings expressed that she had chosen to stay with Tom, no matter the outcome).

Why they might not be annoying:

    They both graduated from Louisiana State University.
    They had just completed a two-year tour of duty with the Peace Corps at Funafuti in the South Pacific, at the time of their disappearance.
    The crew messed up the headcount on the boat after twenty-four of the twenty-six divers returned to the vessel and they failed to notice.
    Their absences were not noted by the boat crew until two days after the group scuba trip, when their bags and shoes went unclaimed.
    Theories that they had either staged their deaths or that Tom had murdered Eileen were both deemed unlikely (e.g. their bank accounts and insurance policies remained untouched, their diary entries were determined to have been taken out of context).
    A women's wetsuit matching Eileen's size washed ashore in north Queensland (February 1998). Six months after the disappearance, in June 1998, more of their diving gear was found washed up on a Port Douglas beach 75 miles from where they were lost.
    Also recovered was a weathered diver's slate which read: "Monday Jan 26; 1998 08am. To anyone who can help us: We have been abandoned on A[gin]court Reef by MV Outer Edge 25 Jan 1998 3pm. Please help to rescue us before we die. Help!!!’
    The dive boat skipper Jack Nairn was formally charged and acquitted of manslaughter charges, but his company was fined after pleading guilty to negligence and went out of business.
    Their case resulted in tighter mandatory safety regulations for diving boats in Australia.
    They in all likelihood succumbed to dehydration and either drowned or were eaten by sharks.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


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