September 1999

Vol. 14, No. 9     What's this?

Don’t Even Think About It: Installment Two

from the September, 1999 issue of Undercurrent  

While on a diving trip in the Gulf of Mexico in 1994, a dive shop owner suspected of sexually assaulting a child disappeared and was presumed dead. Arwyn Carr’s boat was found floating two miles offshore. His car and trailer were still parked on shore. His mother reported him missing, and authorities searched the Gulf and the nearby Steinhatchee River for his body.

At the time, Carr faced charges of sexual assault on a child under 12. A conviction could have brought a life sentence. His trial was only two months away.

When a diver goes missing and a body doesn’t turn up, authorities don’t walk away. Last issue we reported on one presumed-dead Florida diver turning up in Wisconsin, where he was promptly arrested.

In this case, authorities found Carr, alive and well, living in Flagstaff, Arizona. He had taken a new name, left his family, and forfeited his $25,000 bond and all of his possessions, including his Luraville Spring System Dive Center. The Miami Herald reported that police found him after his mother visited him in Flagstaff and made cellular phone calls that were later traced, just like the doofus in our last issue.