Key West Dive Instructor Disappears

On August 2, Tommy Faulkenberry, a dive instructor with Lost Reef Adventures in Key West, made a dive on the USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, seven miles off Key West. His goal was to hang a decompression tank on a line. Faulkenberry, 44, was diving from the operator's boat Dream Cat. The crew reported to the Coast Guard that he was overdue from a dive at 10.13 a.m., 53 minutes after being last seen.

After five days of searching by the Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and Army dive teams, the National Guard, and Florida authorities, the search was called off. They covered about 4,300 square miles, the size of Connecticut.

The Vandenberg is a 523-foot troop transport and missile-tracking ship sunk for divers in 2009. It has a maximum depth of 145 feet, and at times has strong currents.

"This was a tragic accident," stated Sector Key West Coast Guard commander Capt. Jason Ingram. "Faulkenberry's passion for the sea is well remembered by the dive community here in the Keys." Faulkenberry had previously served in the Coast Guard for nearly 20 years.

A GoFundMe site has been established for Faulkenberry's four sons, aged 15 to 21, by their mother, who described him as "an experienced diver who loved the water." https://tinyurl.com/4twry4hm

- The Miami Herald, Divernet, and other sources