The bodies of two divers have been recovered in Weeki Wachee.
According to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, responded to a call about two missing divers at the Eagle’s Nest dive area around 6 p.m. on Sunday.Eagle’s Nest is also known as Lost Sink and is near Weeki Wachee in the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Refuge. This is well-known and potentially deadly location for divers all over the world.
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Patrick Peacock, 53, and Chris Rittenmeyer, 38, from Ft. Lauderdale, were pulled from Eagles Nest, a large cave system located off Cortez Blvd that is located in the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area.
Deputies say the diver Justin Blakely told them that he and his two friends, Patrick Peacock and Chris Rittenmeyer, travelled from Fort Lauderdale for a 3-day dive at Eagle’s Nest for deep underwater exploration.
Blakely said that Peacock and Rittenmeyer were both experienced divers and had both dived Eagle’s Nest several times in the past.
Investigators say all three divers entered the water at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Blakely was the most inexperienced diver and agreed to remain closer to the surface, while the other two divers explored the caves. The plan was for Peacock and Rittenmeyer to check in with Blakely at a predetermined location at 3 p.m.
However, Blakeley waited, and they did not show up. Blakely went back 30 minutes later; they still were not there. Blakely checked back every 30 minutes, meeting with negative results. At 6 p.m., Blakely called 911.
On Sunday night, a group of rescue divers entered the water in an attempt to locate Peacock and Rittenmeyer. But, they were not able find them.
At 9 a.m. on Monday, a new group of rescue divers entered the water in an attempt to locate Peacock and Rittenmeyer. Both divers were found near each other in 260 feet of water. The divers were in a very dangerous and complex area of the cave system.
"It's called martini's law for us old timers. For the new comer's it's nitrogen narcosis. You have a lack of judgment and lose some of your inhibitions. Some people may even freeze up and do what we call 'white out," said Chuck Walls with A SCUBA Centre, a diving expert, who has previously gone into the Eagle's Nest and has taken groups of divers there for years.
