1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Thinking Sideways. It is not brought to you by spoons. Instead, 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: it is supported by the generous contributions of people like you, 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: our listeners on Patreon. Visit patreon dot com slash thinking 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: Sideways to learn more Thinking Sideways. I don't stories of 5 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: things we simply don't know the answer too. Hey there everybody, 6 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: and welcome again to the podcast. I am Steve, of course, 7 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: as always, joined by Joe. And that's it. Yeah, the 8 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: antern didn't work out. Yeah, it turns out, get a 9 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: visa problem. Um. So, as always, this week we have 10 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: another mystery for you. Today we're going to talk about 11 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: the disappearance of Ben McDaniels. And uh been dispired after 12 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,559 Speaker 1: he entered a he was diving, and he disappeared after 13 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: he entered a underwater cave on the eighteenth of August, 14 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: and he never came back out, and he never came 15 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: back out, well that we know of, he was never 16 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: seen again. Who was never seen again? Now, if you 17 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,559 Speaker 1: are at all a claustrophobic or be afraid of the water, 18 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: or worse both, you're gonna get the Bejesus scared out 19 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: of you with this story to just warn you up 20 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: ahead of deep water, deep water. Yeah, hopefully none of 21 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: our listeners have babies. That's so weird that I get it. Yeah, 22 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: I totally get that weird. We need to stop doing 23 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,199 Speaker 1: the podcast because you're understanding my logic all of a sudden. 24 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: It's not good. It's creepy. Yeah, well, how does this 25 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: story go? Well, before we get into the story, actually, 26 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: this is a listeners suggestion, So I do want to 27 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: say thank you to both Eden and Emily. They are 28 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: currently the only ones listed as suggesting it. You very much. 29 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: Anybody else suggested and we forgot to put journalists. Sorry 30 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: about that, Yeah, because this was a great story, wild 31 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: right you two. No, I've been working on this for 32 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: a month or more now, Yeah, good story. So taking 33 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: it from the beginning, Ben McDaniels was a thirty year 34 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: old man. He was originally from Tennessee and the year 35 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: two thousand nine was a really bad year for Ben. 36 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: He uh, he got divorced, which I imagine took a 37 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: lot of his things. His business went under, which I'm 38 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: sure took a lot of his things as well, and 39 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: then he lost his home, which would have taken one 40 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: of his big things. So he had a really bad year. 41 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: This was also one single year, and he had some 42 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: tax problems too. Yeah, the business going under his I 43 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:47,959 Speaker 1: think it was a construction business, if I remember correct. 44 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: And when it failed, he had a tax bill between 45 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 1: the state of Tennessee and the Feds of somewhere around 46 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 1: fifty thousand, which is a hefty, hefty bill. So he 47 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: didn't really know what to do. So, doing what a 48 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: lot of people do, he moved back in with his parents. 49 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: His mom and dad were very gracious and they took 50 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 1: him in and after a while they said, well, listen, 51 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: you need to kind of figure your stuff out. You 52 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: need to get your act together. Tell you what, and 53 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: as they called it, why don't you take a sabbatical? 54 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,799 Speaker 1: What a sabbatical from unemployment, from life, from life as 55 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:29,399 Speaker 1: Actually it's okay. They have a home in Florida since yeah, 56 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: their second home. It's in Santa Rosa. It was a 57 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: condo if I remember correct, And they said, go to 58 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: the condo, live in Florida, will pay your expenses, will 59 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: cover your living costs. And imagine they gave him money 60 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: to you know, spending cash. Absolutely have some money though 61 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: they did have money. They have by the way, Santa Rosa, 62 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: just to spare having to look at Google Earth. It's 63 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: on the Gulf coast of Florida. Yeah, yeah, it's not 64 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: on the Atlantic coast. Yeah yes, um so yeah, Ben, Ben, 65 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: you know, okay, be hard to turn that down. Yeah, 66 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: I really would. So he went to he went to Florida, 67 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: and while he was there, he began to indulge an 68 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: old hobby, which was scuba diving. From the stuff that 69 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: his family has put out, Ben began diving at the 70 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: age of fifteen, so he seems to have been an 71 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: experienced diver. He wasn't a professional, but he was, you know, 72 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: an amateur diver. And I don't have a sense of 73 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: if how you know how frequently that continued. One he 74 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: don't in Florida, it was he was definitely diving, like 75 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: all the time. That was pretty much all he was doing. 76 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: It seemed like, and it seemed like when he was 77 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: a kid, he really enjoyed it. So he kind of 78 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: got maybe he picked up an old hobby. But I 79 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: don't necessarily have the sense that this is something he'd 80 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: been doing avidly the entire time. I would not disagree 81 00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: with that at all. In a place like Tennessee, it 82 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: might be tough to find good places to go because 83 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: I know, I know people around here who are scuba divers, 84 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: and there's really not much of any place to scuba 85 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,920 Speaker 1: diving if we don't yeah deep deep lakes or what 86 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,720 Speaker 1: really make good or beautiful underwater landscapes or what you're 87 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: after interesting things. So I understand why he might not 88 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: have done it so much, because you don't want to 89 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: jump in the river and scuba dive. Yeah, not so fun. Yeah. Well, 90 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 1: also like a waste of resources. You can snorkele in it. 91 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: You should just snorkle in it. Um. So well, Okay, 92 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 1: So Ben, he's scuba diving, and he evidently didn't like 93 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: diving in saltwater, which I can't hold against him. Saltwater rashes, Yeah, 94 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: it's it's gonna it's gonna take a little physical toll 95 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: on you. Plus the buoyancy issue. I was just gonna say, 96 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: the buoyancy issue. Yeah. Ben was not a small guy. 97 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: I think he. I think Ben was like six foot ballpark, 98 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: which would and I think it was something like a 99 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: hundred eight to ten. Okay. I knew that he wasn't 100 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: a skinny guy by any means, So, but he didn't 101 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 1: he didn't like to go there. So he liked freshwater dive. 102 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: So what's he do. He finds a place near him 103 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: called Vortech Spring because it's freshwater. It's absolutely beautiful and 104 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: it is fresh for those who are going to pull 105 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: a Joe and go to Google Earth and look for 106 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: Vortech Springs. It's just outside of Pasta Leon, Florida, so 107 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: it wasn't too far away from where he lived. And 108 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: as Devin said, it's really pretty. I mean it's a giant, 109 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: it's a it's a natural spring. So it is cool 110 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: water upwelling out of the earth. Yeah, that's not really 111 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: cool in my book. Well, when it's a hundred percent 112 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:46,280 Speaker 1: humidity and a hundred degrees that way right, we're not 113 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: talking Oregon Coast cool. Correct. It is very nice to 114 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: swim in, and in fact, its main draw is for 115 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,039 Speaker 1: people to swim in it. They've got zip lines and 116 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:58,119 Speaker 1: stuff like that. I mean it looks like a fun 117 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: place to go. Oh yeah, I'd like to go. But 118 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: and I'm sure the water was just all fresh and 119 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: clear because it get getting changed out. I mean it 120 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,359 Speaker 1: was up well from the aquifer. And then that is 121 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: exactly why it is so popular with divers because open 122 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: water divers can go there. The water temperature is consistent, 123 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: the current is gentle. It's consistent but gentle, and therefore 124 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: it's not dirty. There's lots of aquatic life to check out. 125 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: So it's really really interesting. And let's keep talking about 126 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: the cave because there's a couple of things that I 127 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: want to go over, one of which is the shape 128 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: of the cave. So the vortex springs. If you think 129 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: about it, it's a giant hole in the ground. There's 130 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: a big basin. It's fifty to sixty ft deep, which 131 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: equates to about fifteen and sixteen so it's fairly deep 132 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: a ways down and if you look at it in profile, 133 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: if you look at it, there's maps available which you 134 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: should look up because we're not ever going to be 135 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: able to describe it. Well no, no, but it almost 136 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: to me from the side, looks like a semi deflated 137 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: pastry bag, you know, the thing that like that you 138 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: decorate cakes with, because it's it's kind of triangular and 139 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: then it's zig zags back and forth and it's really skinny. 140 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: Devon's laughing, but she gets it, she totally gets it. 141 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: But so it goes down for for quite a bit, 142 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: nobody knows how deep the cave is and by or 143 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: how long the cave is. Is the the appropriate way 144 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 1: to say that, we know basically how deep it is 145 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: at the back correct. What they need to do is 146 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: is like dress up a small child in a wet 147 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: suit with tanks and everything and send it to that 148 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: skinny part. Think you're supposed to do that? I think, yes, yeah, 149 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: it's crazy, I know, Joe. But okay. For the length 150 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: of the cave, we know that the cave is over 151 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: seventeen feet long, which again for our folks that are 152 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: to the same measurement system, it's law. At least at 153 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: least that's it's probably farther, but that's as far as 154 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: anyone has gone that we know of, and that that number, 155 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: by the way, is self reported. It's from prett reliable source, 156 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: but it's self reported for the distance. If anybody's ever 157 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: gone into a cave, as we were talking about, they 158 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: get harder and harder to go into because they get 159 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: smaller and smaller as they go, they get narrower, and 160 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: this cave is no different as it dives down the 161 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: walls and expand and contract and change shape. But they 162 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: generally continually get closer and closer together. They call them restrictions, 163 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: I think is what they call them. And I'm sorry, yeah, 164 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: bottleneckt So it's like, you know, it's a wide open 165 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: cave and then there's this like part that you have 166 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: to squeeze through and then it opens up again and 167 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: it's narrow and that can be horizontally or vertically or both. Yeah. Yeah, 168 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: I mean there are caves near us called the Caves 169 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: which do this. Um, if you've ever been in any cave, 170 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,079 Speaker 1: you know what we're talking about. Yeah, there's not Ape Cave. 171 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: There's not too much of that though. It's i mean 172 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: it's good to the very end, well at the very end. Yeah. 173 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: There's another one that's only a couple of miles away 174 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: from there, called Little Red River Cave. Yeah. Have you 175 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,839 Speaker 1: been there. Yeah, it's a gated cave, but but you know, 176 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: you go all the way to the end. He didn't really, Okay, 177 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: when you get it goes downward and there's a there's 178 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,199 Speaker 1: it's it's a difficult, more difficult than Ape Cave, but 179 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,679 Speaker 1: it keeps going downward and there's some climbing and stuff involved, 180 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: and as you get down towards the end, water starts 181 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: coming in because you go below the water table and 182 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: so there's water dripping from the ceiling and running running 183 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 1: down the floor and everything. And then you finally get 184 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,440 Speaker 1: to this end, then it's just a lake. It's like 185 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: it ends in water, which it may continue. Oh yeah, 186 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:48,839 Speaker 1: so if you put scoopy gear on and went down that, 187 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: I'm not about to, but if you wanted to, you 188 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: can see how far that thing goes. But I had 189 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: my creepiest cave experience in there. One time. I was like, 190 00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: I was caved with three friends and we got to 191 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: the and then we turned around and started heading back 192 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: to the entrance and I was bringing up the rear 193 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: and suddenly way back and this is this is like 194 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: actually a distance away from the end of the cave, 195 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: and suddenly I heard this. I heard this thud coming 196 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,760 Speaker 1: from behind me in the cave, and I stopped and 197 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: I looked. I never found out what it was. Definitely, 198 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: if I was looking over my shoulder a little bit 199 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 1: more than I normally would, butt like something heavy dropped, 200 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 1: like one thing dropped, like something something, and yeah, kind 201 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: of something to look on Devon's face. Yeah it was. 202 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: It was just a real soft just just sort of 203 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: a way off of the distance kind of. And I say, 204 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: I don't like somehow it lived through it. Well back 205 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: to vortex springs. Yeah, okay, So at the end or 206 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: the farthest reach that we know of the cave is 207 00:11:55,360 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: only about ten inches high, which is really be the 208 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: really small, especially if you got a bunch of gear on. Yeah. Yeah, 209 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: and there's and we're gonna we'll talk a little bit 210 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,319 Speaker 1: about the diving and styles that are required. But people 211 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: are squeezing themselves through these cracks a while carrying their 212 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: oxygen supply. So it's it's not something to be taken lightly, 213 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,319 Speaker 1: and it is definitely something that you need to know 214 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,319 Speaker 1: how to do before you do it. Still, don't do it. Well, 215 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: We've read enough, I know all of us have read 216 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 1: enough stories of people getting lost in caves. Some of 217 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: them were lucky enough to be found alive. And this 218 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: is cave diving, not just people lost in in caves 219 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: that are filled with air. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it's dangerous, 220 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: crazily dangerous. I think the only way I'd do that, 221 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,599 Speaker 1: I'd take some fluorescent some fluorescent green cord with me 222 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: or something like that. So I got to just run 223 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 1: a line the whole way. Cave divers do typically run 224 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: a cord. They tend to run a cord behind them 225 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,080 Speaker 1: so they can turn around and easily retrace their path 226 00:12:57,160 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 1: out because it's very easy in a pitch black environment 227 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: to lose your way. Breaks or something like yeah, anything 228 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: like that. Now, for Vortech Springs, what they've done is 229 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 1: there was a there was a string of people who 230 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: drowned in the cave, got lost and out of air 231 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,439 Speaker 1: and drowned, and so the state said we're gonna shut 232 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: you down. Probably, So what the owners of Vortex Springs 233 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 1: did is about three hundred feet in they put in 234 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: a gate. And that gate has it's a keyed gate. 235 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: If you present identification and certifications saying I can cave dive, 236 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,439 Speaker 1: they will give you the key and let you in. Otherwise, 237 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,680 Speaker 1: it's meant to stop people from going into the cave 238 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: and getting lost and dying. Now, the how effective that 239 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: gate is, it's not really high tech. It looks like 240 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: a bunch of pieces of rebar that are jammed into 241 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 1: the stone and happens to have a lock and a 242 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: hinged gate on it. You know, my sense of it 243 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: was that it is more to discourage than to actually 244 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 1: stop people. I mean, I think that if you're a 245 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: diver and you're kind of inexperienced and you're just thinking, oh, 246 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 1: just go to this cave blah blah blah, and you 247 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: encounter a thing that looks like that and there's a 248 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: stop sign, and it's just it's just sign that's got 249 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: the grim Reaper on it. Right, Yeah, you're you know, 250 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: instead of just the sign, which would be pretty easy 251 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: to just kind of ignore, it's fun. Yeah, I think 252 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: it's more meant to be like that symbolic, hey, don't 253 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 1: go pass here unless you want to die. Yeah. The 254 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: problem with the gate is it is easy to bypass, 255 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: or it is not difficult to bypass, I should say. 256 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: I wouldn't say it's easy, but people have been known 257 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: to get around. Well, there's a video. Actually, there are 258 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: a couple of videos by this this guy um that 259 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: I watched, and I just wanted to bring it up 260 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: real quick. Actually, let me do real quick. Just I 261 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: just want to finish just two little bits of detail 262 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 1: about the cave and then we can talk about that, 263 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: because that's really important and interesting. But the only other 264 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: thing that I wanted people to know about when it 265 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: comes to the cave itself is that the depth of 266 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: the cave that we know is around a hundred fifty 267 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: feet deep. That's underwater, which would equate again that's forty five. 268 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: And that's a significant number because divers who tend to 269 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: go to a hundred and thirty feet or below typically 270 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: have to breathe not just straight a normal gas mix 271 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: of what's in the atmosphere, regular air mix. They've actually 272 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: got to do a special gas mixtures, and that's to 273 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: help stave off things for decompression issues, to bends exactly. 274 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: That was. I've been told that most divers actually always 275 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: turn around. Most A hundred thirty is the depth that 276 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: you can go. But if you want a safety cushion, correct, Yeah, yeah, 277 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: for a safety cushion, it's somewhere in that, in that range, 278 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: but that's the bottom. After that you have to be. 279 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: You should be if you well, if you don't have 280 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: if you yeah, But and then you were gonna talk 281 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: about this the gate, I know because you were looking 282 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: at the video. Yeah, I was just going to bring 283 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: up a little bit um. There's some really really interesting 284 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 1: videos that you should watch if you can stand to Um, 285 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: it's a little I mean, it's a little creepy. I 286 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: you know, told I was telling you guys that I 287 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: have developed a new fear um. But one of these videos, 288 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: it's not totally clear what's happening. But in one of them, 289 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: it was filmed by a guy named Nick. He and 290 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: he has a diving partner and they do these deep 291 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,680 Speaker 1: water cave videos just all the time. They have a 292 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: bunch at Vortex Springs. One of them is Nick showing 293 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 1: how easy it is to get over the gate um 294 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: and it doesn't take a about a minute. You know, 295 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: there's a little spot where you can just do. You 296 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: have to push your tank in before you um, and 297 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: then you climb over and then you put your tank 298 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: back on um. And he does it a couple of times. 299 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: But that's it's really interesting. It's very easy. It looks 300 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: very easy once you know how to do it. Yeah, 301 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: it looks very very easy to me, very very easy 302 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: to get caught on that thing. It's ground, but yeah, 303 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 1: I mean it would be pretty easy to snag something 304 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: on it too. Yeah. Yeah, this is not something that 305 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,640 Speaker 1: we're saying lightly to just go do what we're saying, don't. 306 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: This is yeah, please don't. It's just this is at 307 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: the from the videos we've seen from that time possible. 308 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: And I haven't heard anything at the gates ever been upgraded. 309 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,199 Speaker 1: But yeah, I suspect it has, but I don't know. 310 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: I hope probably since then. Yeah, I mean, that's super interesting. 311 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,879 Speaker 1: And I have more about the videos that the guys 312 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: posted later, but I'll talk about that one. It's relevant. Okay, 313 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,120 Speaker 1: sounds perfect, So let's get back to the story because 314 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: that's enough about the cave itself. Yeah. Um, and there 315 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 1: are maps available on the internet, so to look at 316 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:40,880 Speaker 1: one of those, we will probably have been postal link 317 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 1: might be one of the links. So Ben could have 318 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: been diving at Vortex Spring for up to four months. 319 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: He probably was. He probably was because he moved into 320 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,880 Speaker 1: his parents house in Florida in April of that year, 321 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: and so I imagine not to long after that, I 322 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: would I'm going to guess several weeks after that started diving. 323 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:06,159 Speaker 1: He was. It was kind of a regular around there. 324 00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: He was a total regular. They knew him. He was 325 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,960 Speaker 1: there almost every day, absolutely, But what he did that 326 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: is a giant no. No. From everything I know about 327 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: diving and everything I've ever read about diving is he 328 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 1: was so low diving now, you know, even even above 329 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: ground caving. He really don't want to do that alone. No, 330 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 1: there's because if something that's any kind of adventuring you 331 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:32,240 Speaker 1: don't want to do alone, you don't. Uh, it's it's 332 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 1: it's a no. It's you know, you always have you 333 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: dive buddy, you always go down with somebody else. But 334 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: according to accounts that came out after the fact, Ben 335 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: was either a little bit unapproachable, maybe came off as 336 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: a jerk, or people have described him as overconfident, and 337 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,439 Speaker 1: so maybe that came through in a negative way. You know, 338 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,120 Speaker 1: somebody just read that wrong, and so he never got 339 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: a he never made a friend to his dive. But 340 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 1: I almost wonder if the overconfidence really kept people from 341 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,160 Speaker 1: wanting to be his dive partner. In that it read 342 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:11,479 Speaker 1: as reckless. You don't necessarily want well not just cocky, 343 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: but I mean genuinely reckless. You don't want to have 344 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: a dive partner who's always saying, hey, let's break the 345 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,199 Speaker 1: rules and do all these things. And I don't you know, 346 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: I'm not as trained as I should be, but we're 347 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: going to do this thing anyway. That's not what you 348 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: want from a dive partner. You want somebody that you're like, 349 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: very confident in their abilities. I assume he he did. 350 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: He did seem to come off by some of the 351 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: stuff that I've read and watched. He said that his 352 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: skills were much more than they were in terms of 353 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,920 Speaker 1: his experience. Um, because there's a movie that we'll talk 354 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,400 Speaker 1: about where he had he was trying to pass himself 355 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 1: off almost as a dive instructor, which he was in 356 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 1: no way, shape or form qualified to be. He wanted 357 00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 1: to be, he wanted to he did, he wanted or later. 358 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: But the point is that he was acting as if 359 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: he was one, and I imagine that for people who 360 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: knew what was going on, that was really off putting. 361 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: So that that worked against him. That absolutely did not. 362 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,400 Speaker 1: That behavior didn't work in his favor. Whether whether that's 363 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: what he did or not, I don't know. Well, the 364 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: point is he wanted in by himself. Yeah, you never know. 365 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: I didn't know, Ben. Obviously, he had only been there 366 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: for four months, so he maybe didn't have enough time 367 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: to really meet people, or maybe he just liked to 368 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: dive alone. No, that's that's absolutely possible. Absolutely good idea. No. Um, 369 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,159 Speaker 1: So he was like we said, though he's he's certified 370 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: to dive in open water, he's not certified to dive 371 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,439 Speaker 1: in caves. Uh. And as we said, he had he 372 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 1: decided that what he wanted to do was become a 373 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:49,879 Speaker 1: dive instructor. He had also expressed to his family that 374 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: he wanted to learn to cave dive and then he 375 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: wanted to open his own dive business. Yeah, I didn't want. 376 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: One way to learn the cave divers to do it 377 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: with the qualified instructor. Another way to do it is 378 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: to read a lot and then just do it. I'm sorry, 379 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,919 Speaker 1: I should be clear. I'm making a joke. Yes, please 380 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:10,679 Speaker 1: do not do that. Do not do that. Okay. So 381 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:15,440 Speaker 1: if you want, I want people who are interested in 382 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: this to do this, which is to look up technical 383 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,160 Speaker 1: diving and look at the certifications that you have to get. 384 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: And it is a huge list with a certain number 385 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 1: of hours of every one of them before you can 386 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: be and have that to your technical diving record. You 387 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: can have that and say I can do this, Okay, 388 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: it's all hours based. Ben wanted to do this thing. 389 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: So he was going underwater and logging tons and tons 390 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: and tons of hours at a breakneck speed to say, 391 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: so if a certification takes a hundred hours, He's like, well, 392 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,160 Speaker 1: if I go six hours a day every day, I'll 393 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: be there in no time flat. You know, take me 394 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: less in two weeks. I can totally make this happen. Well, 395 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:05,439 Speaker 1: that's not the way that you're supposed to do it, 396 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 1: because the reason that it takes hours is so that 397 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: you learn how to do certain things. They become automatic 398 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: reactions and automatic functions so that when you're in a 399 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: catastrophic situation, you automatically react in the proper way. And 400 00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: that wasn't what he was doing. He was just piling 401 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: on the hours based on his log books anyway. Yeah, 402 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: which is do you want to explain real quick what 403 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: a log book is? Oh, that's a very good question. 404 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: So it just seem so s logbook is quite literally 405 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 1: a book where you write in a log of your activities, 406 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:46,639 Speaker 1: something like a time card. You say, when in the 407 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: water at did x y Z exited the water at 408 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 1: so for a total of time of underwater I mean, 409 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: and that's it. And then it's a tally and you're 410 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: just keeping a record of everything you're doing and practices, 411 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,879 Speaker 1: then to go back and reread your log books to 412 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: think about things that you did. And this is why 413 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,160 Speaker 1: you don't do things. It's such a high speed. Say 414 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: once a week you go die for three hours and 415 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:14,199 Speaker 1: then you reread your logbook three weeks later, like I 416 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,919 Speaker 1: totally don't remember. Oh that's ride. And then I do 417 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,680 Speaker 1: this like you know, I equated to the same thing 418 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: as taking a final. Did you guys ever do this? 419 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: You had cram like mad before the final and then 420 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: take the test and remember none of it the next 421 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 1: day after the test. Yeah, that's how I did finals 422 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:35,439 Speaker 1: for sure. But I mean, I think what you're supposed 423 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,080 Speaker 1: to do that? No, And I think you also in 424 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 1: your log book you take notes and draw diagrams and 425 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: you know any important information. I suspect you also say 426 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 1: things like, here's what my oxygen tank was at when 427 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: I went in, Here's what it was at when I 428 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: came out, how long it cooked decompressed. Here's how I'm feeling, 429 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: you know, here's how I'm feeling the next day. Well 430 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:02,879 Speaker 1: that's more of a dear diary, but I'm making But 431 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:04,640 Speaker 1: I mean, I think those are all very important things 432 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: to be keeping track of as well, probably he probably 433 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 1: should be paying attention to how your body reacts to 434 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: all that crap. Your body time to react is the 435 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,359 Speaker 1: really important part, right, because if it turns out that 436 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,880 Speaker 1: the next day something is going to negatively affect you, 437 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:19,920 Speaker 1: if you just keep doing it and doing it and 438 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,240 Speaker 1: doing it and you haven't given your body time to 439 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: do that reset, you're done for. Yeah. Absolutely, So that's 440 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,239 Speaker 1: what a log book is. Yes, Okay, So let's go 441 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:33,120 Speaker 1: to the eighteenth of August two, which was a Wednesday. 442 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:37,160 Speaker 1: By the way, Ben McDaniels went in the early part 443 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,879 Speaker 1: of the day. He took a dive in Vortech Spring 444 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,919 Speaker 1: and went down and afterwards he was seen by people 445 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: hanging around. So it wasn't like he did his dive, 446 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: came out, went home. He hung around, he was writing 447 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: his log book, he's adjusting his gear. We know that 448 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: at one point he went and filled his tanks because 449 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 1: of some security footage. We don't know what he filled 450 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,680 Speaker 1: his tanks with, whether it was just a regular air 451 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:08,959 Speaker 1: mix or some specialized mix. We don't know. By his tanks, 452 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,160 Speaker 1: I mean, there were other tanks that were found that didn't. 453 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:15,159 Speaker 1: This is the question. We don't know about that we 454 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: don't know which tanks he put the air in, whether 455 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: they the ones that he was wearing and disappeared with, 456 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: or the ones that were subsequently found after the They 457 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 1: also we also don't know for certainty that the ones 458 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: that were found after the fact were actually Ben's. It's 459 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: it is pretty strong strong, but we we don't. They 460 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: don't say Ben McDaniels edged into them. They do now, 461 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:45,199 Speaker 1: but they didn't. Yeah. Yeah, And also another thank it's 462 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: frustrated about this mystery is I would like to know 463 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: exactly how many tanks been owned. That would be useful. 464 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,640 Speaker 1: I don't know if there's a way to find that out. Well, 465 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:55,680 Speaker 1: I guess you could call his family, but the problems 466 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: they might not even know. They probably don't. Yeah, I 467 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: don't know that they have an accurate number, And I 468 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,120 Speaker 1: don't know that anybody's ever said that. That's a really 469 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,680 Speaker 1: good thing. And I thought the same question, but it's not. 470 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: I mean, I believe that if the tanks that were 471 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 1: found were bends, then he had at least four tanks, 472 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,880 Speaker 1: if not more. But he had to have the three, 473 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: so he would have had to have had at least four, yes, 474 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: actually five, Because you don't cave dive without two tanks, right, 475 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: Well you shouldn't. Well, yeah, I guess you could, but 476 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,400 Speaker 1: keep going for an all time record of some kind. 477 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: But that was what my face was was that, you know, 478 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:34,920 Speaker 1: we they found the tanks, and they found at least 479 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,719 Speaker 1: two of them had the X the special mix in it, 480 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 1: the regular air, regular air in them. They weren't a 481 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 1: special mix at all, two of them, that's right, I'm sorry. 482 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: I had them switched. Two of them were normal air 483 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: and one of them was the special mix, right, but 484 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: one which was weird. Right, It's weird because, as I 485 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: said before, if you're going to dive in that cave 486 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: and you're going to go to that depth, you should 487 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: be using the special gas, the gas mix, not just 488 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: regular air for the decompression issues. So that questionable judgment 489 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,359 Speaker 1: in terms of the way he went about it. Well, 490 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: I thought that normal air was used when they were 491 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: coming up during decompression, that they would be your cans 492 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 1: for like when you're coming up slowly once you were 493 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,959 Speaker 1: above a certain No, I may have made that up. 494 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: I think I actually don't know enough. I remember reading 495 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 1: so much about it, and there's so much technical details 496 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:28,919 Speaker 1: that I will be honest, I do not remember the 497 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,119 Speaker 1: writing answer to that, So I don't know if I 498 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 1: would just think that if you're using something special below 499 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 1: a hundred and thirty it means that you can't use 500 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 1: that something special above a hundred and thirty feet. No, 501 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: it doesn't. Yeah, you can use it above. Yeah, it 502 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: totally doesn't stop using it to set. But I imagine 503 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,919 Speaker 1: it's probably cheaper to buy just regular compressed air than 504 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,320 Speaker 1: it is to buy that special mix, So that might 505 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: that might account for that, that's true, But I don't 506 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 1: I don't know that that he was really concerned with 507 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: cash either. I don't like that sense. Given some things 508 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,439 Speaker 1: that we're going to talk about in a little bit here, Actually, 509 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: let's let's leave those tanks where they are. And I 510 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 1: don't mean that is a pun. But so he filled 511 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: his tanks. He fills his tanks, and then Vortic Spring 512 00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: closes at four o'clock at night, So everybody who's swimming 513 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 1: and having good time goes home, but Ben goes for 514 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 1: a dive at some time around seven or seven thirty 515 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: that night. So did you sort of have a browth 516 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 1: thing on with the people, the people that owned it? 517 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 1: Is that how you could do that well, the divers 518 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:38,480 Speaker 1: could stay and finish their dives. So swimmers, the people 519 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: that are using the zip line everything, Hey hey guys, 520 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: pools clothes get out, you know, to get all those 521 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: people out of there. But if you're a diver and 522 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: you go in at three o'clock and you've got two 523 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: or three hours worth of air, you're gonna stay under 524 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: And so I I don't know how it was that 525 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: he would wrangle the I'm gonna go in after the 526 00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: pool is closed thing. It's not as if the pool 527 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:01,760 Speaker 1: was gate it off. If you looked at pictures, you 528 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: could walk in anywhere. You really could. I mean, there's 529 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: an entrance with stairs for divers, but he could have 530 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: literally gone in at any point. I had a sense 531 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: that the owner of Vortex Springs, Kelly, really liked Ben, 532 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: or at least after the fact, seemed to like Ben. 533 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: I think the clarification, I think he just didn't care, 534 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: and Ben was kind of at least amicable with the 535 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:29,800 Speaker 1: people who ran it, given the bit we're going to 536 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: talk about a second here. So I think I mean, 537 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:33,840 Speaker 1: I think he just was doing it. It was against 538 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 1: the rules, but they were kind of like, well, he's 539 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:37,080 Speaker 1: going to do it either way, so we can't stop 540 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: in yeah, or he paid people off, also possible. Absolutely, 541 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,959 Speaker 1: that's absolutely a possibility. So here's the thing. We know 542 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 1: that he's in the water because somewhere around seven thirty 543 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: that night, as he's going down through the entrance of 544 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 1: the cave heading to the gate, he passes two other 545 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: divers who were exiting the cave who also happened to 546 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 1: be a employees of Vortex Spring and their names are 547 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: Chuck Cronin and Eduardo Tehran and ed where those stops, 548 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: I mean they passed him, He stops, He signals to Chucks, 549 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 1: you know, wait, goes back to Ben and he unlocks 550 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 1: the gate for Ben. And that is because they were 551 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: convinced that Ben had been going into the cave and 552 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: however he was doing it, he was bypassing that gate. 553 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:31,840 Speaker 1: He was wearing his helmet and life he was wearing. 554 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 1: He's wearing his all of his gear to go into helmet. 555 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 1: That's the important bit, right, He's wearing a helmet. You 556 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 1: could go down it's called the Piano room. Is that 557 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: is this big open cavern right before the gate um, 558 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 1: which is the kind of the last stop for any basically, Yeah, 559 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 1: so I think you can go down there without a 560 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 1: helmet correct into the piano room, but when you go 561 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: deeper you need a helmet. So that was I thought 562 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: why they thought he was definitely and going for a well, yeah, 563 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: if he's if he's in that area, then it's pretty 564 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 1: obvious what he's doing, well, you know. And the thing 565 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: about it is he's been hanging around so much, you 566 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,480 Speaker 1: gotta figure he's pushing the cave, you know, ever deeper 567 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 1: all the time. But and one other reasons. It's not 568 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: just the whole going around thing, but they he figured 569 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: that if you let him in, that would save been 570 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,880 Speaker 1: five minutes maybe of air. Yeah, yeah, that's that's that's 571 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 1: that's the only logical reason that I can think of. Now. 572 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:29,760 Speaker 1: At first I thought, well, I mean, it only takes 573 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 1: a minute or so to get into who cares. But really, 574 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,320 Speaker 1: where it's important is what he's getting out. If he's 575 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: running low on air and now he's got to stop 576 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,000 Speaker 1: and do something that takes two or three minutes, that's 577 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: two or three minutes of air that he may not have. 578 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: And I think that Edwardo even said that he said 579 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 1: he thought that Ben was jumping the fence anyway, and 580 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: he would try and save him sometimes, so he unlocked 581 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: the gate even though he knew we should make it 582 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,479 Speaker 1: very clear. He knew that Ben was not certified and 583 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: not well trained to be cave diving, and actually, um, 584 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: you know, to speak to Ben's talent as a diver 585 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:09,240 Speaker 1: aptitude if he will. Um that guy was talking about earlier, 586 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: Nick who records all these videos. There's lots and lots 587 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: of videos out here there that he has, and I 588 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 1: believe and I'm this is just me putting a couple 589 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: of things together. So I'm not sure on this, so 590 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,680 Speaker 1: please don't cristify me if I'm wrong on this. But 591 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,640 Speaker 1: Nick has a video called, uh, the Lost Diver in 592 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: the Piano Room, and it's like a three part thing 593 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:35,160 Speaker 1: and it's him and his diving partner are going down 594 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 1: on a routine swim. They record the whole thing, and 595 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: then when they're swimming around the piano room, they encounter 596 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:45,720 Speaker 1: a diver who I guess is maybe lost. I don't 597 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 1: know who I believe is Ben. Didn't they say they 598 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: thought it was him after the fact, Um, I you know, 599 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 1: I don't know. Here. The way that I put this 600 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 1: together was this guy who films these videos named Nick Um. 601 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:02,040 Speaker 1: And then in this movie that we watched, Nick's or 602 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: Ben's Vortex, they show a Facebook post that Ben had 603 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: made a couple of days before he went missing that said, oh, 604 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: I think I interrupted a video shoot today when I 605 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: was down training. Uh, Nick was down there and he 606 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,520 Speaker 1: was he was, you know, filming, and I think that they, 607 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 1: you know, they helped me find my way out or 608 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,480 Speaker 1: something like that. So I believe that this is the case. 609 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:24,719 Speaker 1: And I again, I don't know that for sure, but 610 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:29,920 Speaker 1: I think if it is Ben. So the way that divers, Yeah, 611 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,040 Speaker 1: they do this side tank thing where you think of 612 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:33,680 Speaker 1: a normal scupid Ever, they have the tanks on their 613 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:37,720 Speaker 1: back instead when you're cave diving, you mount them to 614 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:40,959 Speaker 1: your side so that you're slimmer behind your armpits. They 615 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,239 Speaker 1: run along the sides of your body so that you 616 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 1: are a when swimming horizontally, you're not a thick Yeah, 617 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 1: so you're flatter so that you can maneuver yourself in 618 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: into and out of crevices easier. Um, So it looks 619 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,120 Speaker 1: like Ben is really struggling. Well, it's hard to say. 620 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: I saw the same video and it could be that 621 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 1: or he could just be fool around. I mean, he 622 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: could have been. I really don't know. It looks like 623 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: it's hard to say what what the hell exactly, Well, 624 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,200 Speaker 1: it's hard to say. It's hard to see too, but 625 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,120 Speaker 1: it's hard to say except for the two beams. Yeah, 626 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,799 Speaker 1: those guys need to work in their lighting. Well it's hard. 627 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,279 Speaker 1: So it's hard for a number of reasons. One, you know, 628 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: back to the buoyancy issue. It seems like he's kind 629 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 1: of floating. He's having a hard time diet, he's not 630 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:30,399 Speaker 1: using the right amount of weighty compensate for. It does 631 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,720 Speaker 1: look like that a lot. And it looks like he's 632 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:35,880 Speaker 1: moving more awkwardly than the videos of people who are 633 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:39,920 Speaker 1: trained with the side mount system that I've seen. And 634 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: he's also doing the hand signal for like which way, Um, 635 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:46,759 Speaker 1: so he's trying to signal to which partner and which 636 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:48,880 Speaker 1: way down? I think, well, I don't know, it's just 637 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,720 Speaker 1: all the hand signals is which way? I mean, obviously 638 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:54,080 Speaker 1: when you're scupinaving, you can't say like which way which 639 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:56,840 Speaker 1: way down. The hard part about that video, though, is 640 00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: I agree with Joe's At times I thought maybe he 641 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:01,840 Speaker 1: was screwed round. But the other part that's really difficult 642 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:05,840 Speaker 1: to tell what's going on and potentially wrong is that 643 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:09,879 Speaker 1: everybody is spinning in space, and there are times where 644 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: you can tell the camera is upside down and the 645 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,319 Speaker 1: person in frame is upside down because you know, the 646 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,239 Speaker 1: bubbles should be going above them and I stand there 647 00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:22,879 Speaker 1: heading towards their feet, they're standing on the ceiling. Yeah. Yeah, 648 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,840 Speaker 1: so it's hard. It's hard to tell, but um, it's 649 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 1: it's interesting to see if that is indeed Ben. It 650 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:33,400 Speaker 1: doesn't look like he's very confident or moving as fluidly 651 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:37,920 Speaker 1: as you would hope somebody who's attempting dives like the 652 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 1: ones that I think he's attempting. So I just wanted 653 00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:41,759 Speaker 1: to also throw that out there too. Yeah, that's man, 654 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:43,640 Speaker 1: I don't know, it's hard to Again, it's hard to 655 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:46,360 Speaker 1: say what he's doing. It is dark and it's a 656 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:48,759 Speaker 1: murky little video. Yeah, well that's the problem. And that's 657 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:50,279 Speaker 1: the thing again. I think we talked about this a 658 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,960 Speaker 1: little bit more but before, but cave diving, the only 659 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:55,879 Speaker 1: light that you have is the light that you bring. 660 00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:58,279 Speaker 1: So if you have crappy you ever had a car 661 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,840 Speaker 1: that had crappy headlights, then you got a car that 662 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 1: had good headlights. You're like, oh my god, how did 663 00:36:03,719 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 1: I not run anybody over the same thing? Cave diving 664 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:10,040 Speaker 1: your crampy little headlights, you're not gonna see very well. 665 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:13,439 Speaker 1: And that's what makes that video so difficult. But back 666 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:19,040 Speaker 1: to Ben and Edwardo. As we said, Eduardo figured that 667 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:21,960 Speaker 1: Ben was bypassing the gate, so he unlocks it. And 668 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:25,719 Speaker 1: then normally what Chuck and Edwardo would do is they 669 00:36:25,719 --> 00:36:29,240 Speaker 1: would finish their dive, they'd go top side, and they'd 670 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:32,840 Speaker 1: wait until they saw Ben's bubbles coming to the surface, 671 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,000 Speaker 1: because that mean he was out of the cave, he 672 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 1: was going through the decompression process. Things should be fine. 673 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,200 Speaker 1: And then that was a fairly frequent occurrence. Then that 674 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:45,680 Speaker 1: Ben wouldn't dive at night and obviously done it several times, 675 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,160 Speaker 1: and these guys I really feel like they were kind 676 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,040 Speaker 1: of trying to look out for him, like that idiot, 677 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:55,600 Speaker 1: Well hang on, Well, we'll keep an eye for him 678 00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:57,920 Speaker 1: in case something seems like it's not right, and then 679 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:00,600 Speaker 1: we'll have to we'll go try and help. That's the 680 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:05,239 Speaker 1: sense that I got. But instead this particular night, they 681 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:09,440 Speaker 1: didn't wait for Ben. They left, They took off that 682 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,920 Speaker 1: something going on. Probably yeah, I think, and had coffee. 683 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,920 Speaker 1: Can't be babysitting this guy all the time, although it 684 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: is a little suspicious that this is the one night 685 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:23,480 Speaker 1: they didn't stay but find whatever, But that is raised 686 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:25,959 Speaker 1: a lot. It is suspicious the one time they don't 687 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:31,719 Speaker 1: stay he disappears. So those guys go home. The next day, 688 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:34,680 Speaker 1: Ben's truck is in the parking lot because he has 689 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:37,320 Speaker 1: not that we know of, come out of the water. 690 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:43,040 Speaker 1: Nobody notices notice. I'm using notice with quotes, and that 691 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:46,879 Speaker 1: means it was a Thursday, though it was August, so 692 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:50,120 Speaker 1: maybe school is still out. It was particularly hot, very busy. 693 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,040 Speaker 1: They said they didn't notice it because they were busy. 694 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,080 Speaker 1: You know, I think that doesn't bother me that much. 695 00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:57,399 Speaker 1: I think you're a little busy. So what you're really 696 00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,800 Speaker 1: saying is I didn't notice Ben because if he was 697 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:01,800 Speaker 1: having at the rate that he that we seem to 698 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 1: think he was diving at, it's totally possible that he 699 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:06,400 Speaker 1: would get there really early in the morning and go 700 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,000 Speaker 1: for a dive, and then bang out in the middle 701 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:10,880 Speaker 1: of the day when it's really busy, and then go 702 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,880 Speaker 1: for a night dive after everybody's left, and that they 703 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:16,400 Speaker 1: were used to just seeing his truck there all the time, 704 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:19,360 Speaker 1: and so what they're really saying is we didn't notice 705 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,719 Speaker 1: been around, but you know, his truck is always there. Anyway, 706 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 1: truck is there, he's probably off underwater somewhere, you know. 707 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,360 Speaker 1: And that's that's a really good point. I've never heard anybody, 708 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:31,000 Speaker 1: i mean, we've heard about his night diving habit, we'd 709 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:33,239 Speaker 1: never I've never actually seen anything that said if Ben 710 00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:35,759 Speaker 1: was an early riser and was in the water at six, 711 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,440 Speaker 1: when they opened up at eight, they just Ben's Ben's 712 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,880 Speaker 1: diving again. It sounds like he was doing a very 713 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:44,880 Speaker 1: accelerated process. Really, I mean, it wouldn't surprise me to 714 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:46,880 Speaker 1: find out that he was often there early in the 715 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:52,160 Speaker 1: morning too. So the next day is of August, that's 716 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,520 Speaker 1: a Friday, and that's the second day he's missing. EDWARDO 717 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:59,240 Speaker 1: actually is the one who recognized the truck and realized 718 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:02,759 Speaker 1: that it had moved and asked around and nobody said 719 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,000 Speaker 1: they had seen Ben, and so then he turned around 720 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:07,239 Speaker 1: and called cops. Yeah, he probably thought, oh, I left 721 00:39:07,239 --> 00:39:10,520 Speaker 1: on Thursday and it has been there the entire time. Yeah, 722 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:14,720 Speaker 1: probably something like that. The police came, they searched the truck. 723 00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:18,160 Speaker 1: They find Ben's wallet. It's got seven hundred bucks in 724 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,760 Speaker 1: cash in it. Uh, there's equipment and his log book 725 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 1: in the pickup. They eventually, when they can't find him, 726 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:30,440 Speaker 1: they bring cadaver dogs. Cadaver dogs for those who don't know, 727 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:34,840 Speaker 1: I know, we've talked about it. They're not cadavers. The 728 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:39,239 Speaker 1: dogs are not. They are dogs that react to the 729 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:43,680 Speaker 1: smell of a decomposing human body. Those dogs were brought 730 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:49,680 Speaker 1: and supposedly triggered when they smelled the water. Don't I 731 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,279 Speaker 1: have a hard time with it as well. I don't 732 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:54,960 Speaker 1: think the body would have started decomposing that quick. I 733 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:56,880 Speaker 1: don't think that they could have smelled it if it 734 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:00,399 Speaker 1: was under eighty or a hundred feet of water like that. 735 00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:03,560 Speaker 1: Plus there's gonna be other things dying, of course. Never 736 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:05,680 Speaker 1: docs are well trained a differential between and say, a 737 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:09,800 Speaker 1: dead possible human being. They're supposed to be. Yeah. Yeah, 738 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:12,520 Speaker 1: so I I have a difficulty with the whole cadaver 739 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,400 Speaker 1: dog thing. But you will see that reported. They like 740 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,960 Speaker 1: I said, they they signaled on the body, so they 741 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,080 Speaker 1: signal on thank you. Yes, they signaled on the water. 742 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:26,320 Speaker 1: And at that point local divers who were certified to 743 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 1: go into the cave and knew what and found out 744 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:32,160 Speaker 1: what Ben had been doing, went into the cave, and 745 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:36,920 Speaker 1: those divers logged our upon our looking for him in 746 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:40,319 Speaker 1: the cave. Uh. The strange thing that they found right 747 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,600 Speaker 1: away was they found a pair of his tanks near 748 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:45,719 Speaker 1: the entrance of the cave, which we mentioned before. We 749 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,520 Speaker 1: talked about that before, So that was weird. The location 750 00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:51,720 Speaker 1: of them is weird because typically what a diver does 751 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:54,799 Speaker 1: is you don't leave all of your air in one 752 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:58,759 Speaker 1: places on the way dropped tanks like bread crumbs. You 753 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:00,839 Speaker 1: dropped tanks so you can find your way back out 754 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,319 Speaker 1: and be get some air. If you really need some air, 755 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:05,239 Speaker 1: you got a low tank, you can switch them out. 756 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:09,920 Speaker 1: So it's odd that they were there. Somebody said that 757 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,600 Speaker 1: it looked like they were placed by somebody who didn't 758 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:16,799 Speaker 1: know what they were doing. Oh yeah, you do hear that? Yeah, 759 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:19,359 Speaker 1: I mean there there is a lot and there were 760 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:22,120 Speaker 1: and there were three tanks, right, I believe there was. 761 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 1: But what I want to I do want to touch 762 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:27,200 Speaker 1: on real quickly is there have been a lot of 763 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:29,640 Speaker 1: things that have been said in the media, and we've 764 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:32,440 Speaker 1: started saying some of this as well. Which is questioning 765 00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:37,040 Speaker 1: his diving abilities. And so when we say things like that, 766 00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:39,880 Speaker 1: I don't want it to come across as we say 767 00:41:40,239 --> 00:41:43,839 Speaker 1: Ben was an idiot. It was he was doing things 768 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:47,759 Speaker 1: that were not done the way that a proper cave 769 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:51,319 Speaker 1: diver would have done. I just wanted he didn't those 770 00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:55,480 Speaker 1: tanks where that That's also a very valid point, but 771 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:57,400 Speaker 1: I just want to cover that because I've noticed it's 772 00:41:57,440 --> 00:41:58,960 Speaker 1: kind of happened a couple of times. You know, we 773 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:00,880 Speaker 1: don't know. We're not saying that been I mean, he 774 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,480 Speaker 1: may have been a nod inexperience and shouldn't have been 775 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:07,239 Speaker 1: doing what he was doing. Probably that's completely different. Yeah, 776 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:11,400 Speaker 1: I was an experienced scuba diver, not in caves. Yeah. Um. 777 00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:15,080 Speaker 1: By the way, so this place was very very popular 778 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:18,799 Speaker 1: vortech springs with scuba divers, and so scuba divers coming 779 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:21,759 Speaker 1: and go on every day. Yep. Okay, So it's it's 780 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:24,960 Speaker 1: strange that nobody noticed those tanks. Well, they may have 781 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:27,200 Speaker 1: noticed the tanks. It may have been that a diver 782 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:30,280 Speaker 1: who was like, oh, well there's somebody obviously in the cave. 783 00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:33,280 Speaker 1: That must be his tanks. Okay, So here's a question. 784 00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:38,839 Speaker 1: I see the look on her face. H Yeah, here's 785 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,880 Speaker 1: a here's a question for you, a real brain puzzler, 786 00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:45,239 Speaker 1: if you will. So, Edward Oh unlocked the gate for 787 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:48,400 Speaker 1: him Thursday night. Uh, and it's a pad lock with 788 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:52,080 Speaker 1: a key, correct, How did it get locked again? Well? 789 00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:55,000 Speaker 1: Ben could have locked it, but it was locked correct? 790 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,359 Speaker 1: When Well, that's that's something that was That's I mean, 791 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:02,200 Speaker 1: that's a really good question. Is that. I'm assuming that 792 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:05,560 Speaker 1: EDWARDO unlocked it and maybe even handed the padlock over 793 00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:08,840 Speaker 1: to bed just in case some prankster would come wouldn't 794 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:12,040 Speaker 1: come along and not at that time of night, I know, 795 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:16,560 Speaker 1: I I imagine that if that if EDWARDO unlocked it, 796 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:21,239 Speaker 1: he left the unlocked padlock on the loop, he would 797 00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:24,000 Speaker 1: have given the lock to Ben. He wouldn't no use 798 00:43:24,120 --> 00:43:27,560 Speaker 1: for it. Well, well, the us is that you have 799 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:29,319 Speaker 1: it with you, so nobody's going to lock you in. 800 00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:33,799 Speaker 1: But if nobody else is expected to go in that night, 801 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:38,319 Speaker 1: then what's the prom But he definitely didn't leave the key, right, 802 00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:44,359 Speaker 1: So it's EDWARDO unlocked the gate and then at some 803 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:49,399 Speaker 1: point relocked. It had to have been relocked at some point, 804 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:53,600 Speaker 1: yet it was eventually. I mean, it's not as if 805 00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:56,279 Speaker 1: when they you know, I don't believe that when they 806 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:59,839 Speaker 1: went down the divers went down looking for Ben, they said, hey, 807 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:03,080 Speaker 1: the gates still unlocked. I'm sure that some employee who 808 00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:07,240 Speaker 1: was looking around when uh, nobody's been in here today, 809 00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:11,120 Speaker 1: somebody left the gate unlocked and they relocked it. Imagined 810 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:16,239 Speaker 1: that would have happened the next day. But no, absolutely 811 00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:18,919 Speaker 1: no idea when that could have happened. For me, that's 812 00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:23,040 Speaker 1: a really really really important detail. You're right, it is. 813 00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:26,040 Speaker 1: It's the bubbling gun in this case. I don't know. 814 00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:31,759 Speaker 1: I have no idea when that gate got relocked, right, Okay, okay, 815 00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:36,440 Speaker 1: Zinger done, Um okay, So let's uh, let's continue on 816 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,560 Speaker 1: with the story here. So Ben's parents come to the 817 00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:43,360 Speaker 1: area and they stay there while the search has begun 818 00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:47,400 Speaker 1: for their son. They've made some not so great choices 819 00:44:47,719 --> 00:44:53,760 Speaker 1: in the way that they've discussed the case with social media. Specifically, 820 00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:57,520 Speaker 1: they've they've peep some people off in the fighting community, 821 00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:01,719 Speaker 1: because I mean, poor Joy supports is exactly what. It's 822 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:05,399 Speaker 1: not like they're intending they actually know they need these 823 00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:09,840 Speaker 1: people's help. What I'll say is that they they have 824 00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:12,960 Speaker 1: said things in the way that you would expect grieving 825 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,680 Speaker 1: parents to say them, I'd agree with that. So while 826 00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:19,200 Speaker 1: they're they're there's divers in the cave looking. One of 827 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:20,719 Speaker 1: the things we talked about in the beginning is that 828 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:24,800 Speaker 1: this spring, obviously because it's an upwelling and overflows. The 829 00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:29,640 Speaker 1: water overflows out through um and drains into Blue Creek, 830 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,320 Speaker 1: which then goes into some swampy areas because it's Florida. 831 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:36,040 Speaker 1: And of course they checked those corpses, they checked all 832 00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:39,200 Speaker 1: of that. They ran dogs through the area, they searched it. 833 00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:43,240 Speaker 1: So nobody has found at this point below or above 834 00:45:43,320 --> 00:45:47,440 Speaker 1: the water. So Ben's body has completely disappeared. His possessions 835 00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:49,520 Speaker 1: aren't there, like his dive gear, everything he would have 836 00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:52,280 Speaker 1: had on. None of that is shown up at this point, 837 00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:57,000 Speaker 1: as they have to do. Eventually, the police called search off. 838 00:45:57,040 --> 00:45:59,040 Speaker 1: I mean, the divers are like, listen, we can't find him. 839 00:45:59,120 --> 00:46:01,160 Speaker 1: He's not in here, and the police are like, we 840 00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:02,719 Speaker 1: can't find him on the ground. We're not going to 841 00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,960 Speaker 1: keep combing this area, and they're calling off. It's not 842 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:08,840 Speaker 1: that complicated cave really, I mean, it's twisty and long, 843 00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:14,040 Speaker 1: but there's not that many side passages. For the most part. 844 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:16,560 Speaker 1: I am in agreement with Joe. I know, Devin that 845 00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:19,760 Speaker 1: you feel a little different. But when I watched that, 846 00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:25,280 Speaker 1: though the walls do undulate, they are essentially a straight line. 847 00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:29,800 Speaker 1: From the overview from space. If you look at this cave, 848 00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:32,560 Speaker 1: it seems to kind of be in a bit of 849 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:37,279 Speaker 1: a bend, maybe almost an S shape as it goes away. 850 00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:40,000 Speaker 1: But for the most part, it's a it's a tube 851 00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:41,960 Speaker 1: that goes straight in the ground. I will I will 852 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:44,440 Speaker 1: agree with that for the moment. So there's no giant 853 00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:48,279 Speaker 1: offshoot you you know, as far as we know, but 854 00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:51,680 Speaker 1: there are places where there are holes, you know, between 855 00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:54,640 Speaker 1: where the floor is and the wall that who knows 856 00:46:54,680 --> 00:46:57,440 Speaker 1: what's behind there, because frankly, every single person who has 857 00:46:57,480 --> 00:47:00,440 Speaker 1: gone into this cave has cared for their life and 858 00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:02,560 Speaker 1: wants to come back alive, so they're not going to 859 00:47:02,680 --> 00:47:04,960 Speaker 1: stick their head in there. So we don't know if 860 00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:07,440 Speaker 1: there is a cavern in there, if somebody did squeeze 861 00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:10,680 Speaker 1: in there, anything like that. So something to go along 862 00:47:10,719 --> 00:47:13,880 Speaker 1: with that and why there may actually be offshoots that 863 00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:17,080 Speaker 1: we don't know is the floor of the cave is 864 00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:20,719 Speaker 1: very silty, and I've actually read accounts from divers who 865 00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:26,880 Speaker 1: have um been stuck in uh sandy lanches, I believe 866 00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:29,200 Speaker 1: they called it. It's very sandy, and they went into 867 00:47:29,239 --> 00:47:32,600 Speaker 1: something and then the sands started coming in, the silts 868 00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:35,319 Speaker 1: started coming in, and they had to dig themselves out, 869 00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:38,560 Speaker 1: and for every two shovelfuls out or one out, too 870 00:47:38,680 --> 00:47:41,560 Speaker 1: seemed to come in and it took them a while 871 00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:43,919 Speaker 1: to get some headway to get back out. So, yes, 872 00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:47,120 Speaker 1: it is entirely possible that he squeezed in a hole 873 00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:51,160 Speaker 1: and he knocked something loose and the whole closed behind him. 874 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:54,720 Speaker 1: That is possible, and that could be some giant because 875 00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:57,040 Speaker 1: we don't know. One of the other things they found 876 00:47:57,120 --> 00:48:00,919 Speaker 1: was his shovel. They believe they think somebody I think 877 00:48:01,160 --> 00:48:04,560 Speaker 1: it's his shovel because it was placed very deep in 878 00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:07,200 Speaker 1: the cave, but they don't know that it was Ben's. 879 00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:10,040 Speaker 1: But it's believed to be his. Yes, and it apparently 880 00:48:10,080 --> 00:48:13,400 Speaker 1: matched the description of a picture, which is a standard 881 00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:16,400 Speaker 1: issue folding. Oh yeah, No, it could have been anybody's, 882 00:48:16,440 --> 00:48:19,680 Speaker 1: but it also could have been Ben's. Yes. Absolutely. The 883 00:48:19,719 --> 00:48:22,160 Speaker 1: thing about it is is, uh, you know, I used 884 00:48:22,200 --> 00:48:26,600 Speaker 1: to know some cavers did caving myself, and uh, and 885 00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:29,920 Speaker 1: there's always the real hardcore ones really really want to 886 00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:32,440 Speaker 1: push the cave. That means that if they find some 887 00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:35,040 Speaker 1: little crack or crevice or hole, they'll go try to 888 00:48:35,040 --> 00:48:36,600 Speaker 1: force your body into it to see if they can 889 00:48:36,600 --> 00:48:38,759 Speaker 1: actually you know, break through and find another room or 890 00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:42,280 Speaker 1: another cave or something like that. And the thing about 891 00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:44,520 Speaker 1: it is is even the hardcore cavers that I used 892 00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:47,920 Speaker 1: to know would never do something like that by themselves. 893 00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:52,080 Speaker 1: Well you know, it's like, you know, maybe you want 894 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:54,080 Speaker 1: to when you get stuck, you want to have somebody 895 00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:55,759 Speaker 1: to grab your feet and pull you back out of 896 00:48:55,800 --> 00:49:02,719 Speaker 1: that hole. Yes. Yeah, So back to the McDaniels though, 897 00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:06,279 Speaker 1: Ben's family. So while they're there, remember I said they 898 00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:08,239 Speaker 1: were hanging, They were there while the search was going on, 899 00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:10,839 Speaker 1: and then once the search was called off, what they 900 00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:13,640 Speaker 1: decided to do was they decided to and this is 901 00:49:13,680 --> 00:49:15,480 Speaker 1: the part that I told you they did where they 902 00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:17,600 Speaker 1: kind of bungle things and they really made people mad, 903 00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:21,080 Speaker 1: is they put out a ten thousand dollar reward for 904 00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:23,719 Speaker 1: someone to find their son's body. Because at this point 905 00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:28,080 Speaker 1: they know he's dead, but they say, we'll get They're 906 00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:32,480 Speaker 1: pretty sure. They'll give ten thousand dollars to anyone who is, 907 00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:40,000 Speaker 1: as they put it, brave enough to go find him. No, 908 00:49:40,200 --> 00:49:42,800 Speaker 1: because all of the cave I was like, are you kidding? 909 00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:46,480 Speaker 1: You know how much danger I put myself into going 910 00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:48,640 Speaker 1: in this cave looking for him in the first place, 911 00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:51,839 Speaker 1: and the cave diving communities up in arms, and they 912 00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:54,600 Speaker 1: are saying, listen, you need to you need to pull 913 00:49:54,680 --> 00:49:58,880 Speaker 1: back this reward offer. Your going to get somebody killed. 914 00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:02,719 Speaker 1: The mcdan is on their part, they ignore that they 915 00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:06,000 Speaker 1: increased the reward not once, but twice, to the tune 916 00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:09,360 Speaker 1: of thirty thousand dollars totally in the end. Eventually they 917 00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:13,360 Speaker 1: took they took that away, but they did only after 918 00:50:14,080 --> 00:50:18,359 Speaker 1: a gentleman by the name of Larry Higginbotham and he's 919 00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:23,440 Speaker 1: from Biloxi, Mississippi. March two thousand twelve. He uh, he 920 00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:28,480 Speaker 1: drowned in the cave and it's believed, not confirmed, but 921 00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:30,759 Speaker 1: people were pretty sure he was going in there and 922 00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:32,799 Speaker 1: looking for Ben because he was having a hard time 923 00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:35,160 Speaker 1: and he needed some cash. He thought, if I find 924 00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:38,680 Speaker 1: He's evidently said something about finding this guy. He had 925 00:50:38,719 --> 00:50:40,680 Speaker 1: also been following the case. I mean, he was a 926 00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:43,960 Speaker 1: cave diver who had been following the case since it started. 927 00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:47,000 Speaker 1: So it wasn't just like out of the blue, Oh, 928 00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:50,040 Speaker 1: thirty dollars. I will. I've never done this before, but 929 00:50:50,080 --> 00:50:52,600 Speaker 1: I'll do it. Yeah, no, no, absolutely not. I gotta 930 00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:55,160 Speaker 1: say that must really suck to be that moment when 931 00:50:55,320 --> 00:51:01,399 Speaker 1: when you coming about it. I don't want to think 932 00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:03,600 Speaker 1: that through at all, the moment when you realize you're 933 00:51:03,600 --> 00:51:09,919 Speaker 1: out of air or so Ben's um. Ben's parents did 934 00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:16,000 Speaker 1: eventually withdraw the offer of the reward. They've still been 935 00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:18,959 Speaker 1: very active in regards to the case. They are still 936 00:51:19,040 --> 00:51:22,640 Speaker 1: very active on social media in anywhere that discusses the case. 937 00:51:22,880 --> 00:51:27,080 Speaker 1: I've seen them come up in discussions, threads, from articles 938 00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:30,279 Speaker 1: all over the place. Chances are they're probably listening to 939 00:51:30,400 --> 00:51:34,160 Speaker 1: us right now. And if they are listening, I do 940 00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:39,000 Speaker 1: wanna give my condolences for the loss of Ben and Paul. 941 00:51:39,320 --> 00:51:43,239 Speaker 1: I feel terrible for these Yeah, we all do. And 942 00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:45,360 Speaker 1: by the way, we've been saying so, you know, I 943 00:51:45,400 --> 00:51:47,320 Speaker 1: think that Ben was a good guy. It's like, you know, 944 00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:51,080 Speaker 1: we're saying stuff like he was an incompetent cave diver. Question, 945 00:51:51,640 --> 00:51:54,719 Speaker 1: I'm an incompetent cave divers too, and I'm also I'm 946 00:51:54,760 --> 00:51:58,600 Speaker 1: also you know, I'm much more incompetent scuba diver than Ben. Yeah, 947 00:51:58,719 --> 00:52:02,440 Speaker 1: I've had a respirator to take once and I was 948 00:52:02,440 --> 00:52:04,640 Speaker 1: in a swimming pool. But I don't know what I'm doing. 949 00:52:04,760 --> 00:52:09,440 Speaker 1: But okay, well that is our story. Okay, well I 950 00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:14,200 Speaker 1: took a long time. Goodbye everybody. So at this point 951 00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:17,520 Speaker 1: we should probably go ahead and get into the theories. 952 00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:22,640 Speaker 1: And there are three very different theories. It's actually kind 953 00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:26,000 Speaker 1: of an easy when there's three simple chippy UFO, drowning. Yeah, 954 00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:29,240 Speaker 1: I thought big Foot was in their nose rowing underwater 955 00:52:29,239 --> 00:52:33,720 Speaker 1: big Foot, underwater fot that sounds like under water big Foot. 956 00:52:35,360 --> 00:52:39,640 Speaker 1: You don't think Lockness monster did it? Yeah, that's true. 957 00:52:39,640 --> 00:52:42,600 Speaker 1: Nobody is nobody has actually proved that this this cave 958 00:52:42,680 --> 00:52:46,480 Speaker 1: does not connect up with Locknuts. True. Nobody has Yeah, 959 00:52:46,520 --> 00:52:52,080 Speaker 1: show me the proof. No, ain't there. Oh, this is 960 00:52:52,120 --> 00:52:55,480 Speaker 1: one of the moments when I love working with you, Joe. Okay, 961 00:52:55,920 --> 00:52:59,520 Speaker 1: let's go to theory number one, which is that Ben 962 00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:02,719 Speaker 1: is still in the cave. Yeah, he's crawled into some 963 00:53:02,800 --> 00:53:06,760 Speaker 1: tight little crawl they shouldn't have done. Here's here's something 964 00:53:06,800 --> 00:53:09,400 Speaker 1: that people need to know about what this is. Sadly, 965 00:53:09,480 --> 00:53:12,120 Speaker 1: what people have figured out after the fact, what happens 966 00:53:12,160 --> 00:53:17,479 Speaker 1: to cave divers when they their bodies are retrieved. They 967 00:53:17,600 --> 00:53:23,440 Speaker 1: tend to when they're running low on oxygen, panic, weird, strange, 968 00:53:24,840 --> 00:53:28,960 Speaker 1: and what happens is their bodies tend to be found 969 00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:33,600 Speaker 1: in little cracks and crevices that they're trying to squeeze 970 00:53:33,600 --> 00:53:38,960 Speaker 1: them selves through in the mistaken belief that that is 971 00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:44,840 Speaker 1: the way out. You know, they're panicking, their thrashing, cling, 972 00:53:45,239 --> 00:53:49,080 Speaker 1: and so they get into it, and then that's where 973 00:53:49,160 --> 00:53:51,480 Speaker 1: they die, and that's where their body stays, and that's 974 00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:55,239 Speaker 1: where it's found. So it's possible, as we talked about, 975 00:53:55,320 --> 00:53:58,319 Speaker 1: he could have been freaking out and gone into some 976 00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:02,800 Speaker 1: teeny little cravice and stuck into an area. I mean, frankly, 977 00:54:02,840 --> 00:54:05,320 Speaker 1: he could have been not even a little bit freaking 978 00:54:05,320 --> 00:54:07,960 Speaker 1: out and got himself into a little area that he 979 00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:10,279 Speaker 1: thought was gonna be because I think one of the 980 00:54:10,320 --> 00:54:12,480 Speaker 1: things that we kind of glossed over is that he 981 00:54:12,640 --> 00:54:17,040 Speaker 1: was very vocal around vortex springs and saying that he 982 00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:19,640 Speaker 1: was going to discover, you know, he was going to 983 00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:22,320 Speaker 1: find a different part of the cave, and he was 984 00:54:22,360 --> 00:54:25,359 Speaker 1: going to go deeper than anybody else ever had, and 985 00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:27,600 Speaker 1: he was going to find all this new stuff. He 986 00:54:27,719 --> 00:54:31,279 Speaker 1: had a lot of bravado he did, and um, I 987 00:54:31,600 --> 00:54:33,480 Speaker 1: you know it's it wouldn't surprise me that if he 988 00:54:33,560 --> 00:54:35,560 Speaker 1: saw something he was like, oh, I can fit in 989 00:54:35,600 --> 00:54:38,600 Speaker 1: that crack. There's got to be something interesting in there, 990 00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:41,640 Speaker 1: and I can fit in there. He went through there 991 00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:45,359 Speaker 1: and then got stuck. Well, it's it's yeah, it's it's 992 00:54:45,360 --> 00:54:48,080 Speaker 1: possible that he went through and he got stuck because 993 00:54:48,200 --> 00:54:50,239 Speaker 1: it was a dead end and he couldn't get back out, 994 00:54:51,040 --> 00:54:54,440 Speaker 1: or like we talked about before, the sand fills in 995 00:54:54,520 --> 00:54:57,839 Speaker 1: the hole and there's no evidence of him having been there, 996 00:54:58,040 --> 00:55:01,160 Speaker 1: or you know, his line got cut. I don't think 997 00:55:01,160 --> 00:55:03,680 Speaker 1: he was diving with line No, I mean his like 998 00:55:04,120 --> 00:55:08,759 Speaker 1: air line. Okay, So I don't know how it could 999 00:55:08,800 --> 00:55:12,120 Speaker 1: have gotten cut unless somebody actually cut it. Well, if 1000 00:55:12,120 --> 00:55:15,000 Speaker 1: he had been like shimmying under rocks, I don't I 1001 00:55:15,040 --> 00:55:18,480 Speaker 1: didn't see a lot of sharp rocks down there. It's limestone. Yeah, 1002 00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:21,839 Speaker 1: so there's not a whole lot of really jagged edge. 1003 00:55:21,920 --> 00:55:23,640 Speaker 1: The only problem I have, I know I'm the one 1004 00:55:23,680 --> 00:55:26,319 Speaker 1: who's saying it could have been this, but but here's 1005 00:55:26,320 --> 00:55:28,319 Speaker 1: the reason that it wasn't is that, as far as 1006 00:55:28,320 --> 00:55:30,560 Speaker 1: I can tell, all of the cave drivers that went 1007 00:55:30,640 --> 00:55:36,120 Speaker 1: down there afterwards reported seeing no disturbances. Yeah, and let's 1008 00:55:36,160 --> 00:55:40,200 Speaker 1: let's talk about that briefly. Okay, So people who are listening, 1009 00:55:40,480 --> 00:55:42,959 Speaker 1: what you need to remember is that it is a 1010 00:55:43,040 --> 00:55:46,279 Speaker 1: silty bottom. So if you run your fin through it, 1011 00:55:46,360 --> 00:55:49,480 Speaker 1: you're gonna leave an obvious mark. If you're squeezing through 1012 00:55:49,520 --> 00:55:53,520 Speaker 1: a hole, you're going to scrape the stone and leave 1013 00:55:53,640 --> 00:55:56,680 Speaker 1: marks because there's there's algae and stuff growing on the rocks, 1014 00:55:56,920 --> 00:55:59,400 Speaker 1: and you're gonna scrape that off with your suit and 1015 00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:02,120 Speaker 1: your helm it and your arms and your tanks and 1016 00:56:02,200 --> 00:56:05,480 Speaker 1: all of that. You're gonna be leave very obvious signs 1017 00:56:05,520 --> 00:56:09,319 Speaker 1: on the walls and the floor and the ceiling. And 1018 00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:12,359 Speaker 1: there were none that stood out as this is brand 1019 00:56:12,400 --> 00:56:15,320 Speaker 1: new and this weird. There's a bunch of screen marks 1020 00:56:15,440 --> 00:56:18,319 Speaker 1: that go into this sandy thing that's just here like that. 1021 00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:20,960 Speaker 1: That wasn't what happened. And it does sound like it 1022 00:56:21,040 --> 00:56:24,480 Speaker 1: wasn't very frequent that people were going down into this cave. 1023 00:56:24,800 --> 00:56:26,279 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think it was one of those 1024 00:56:26,320 --> 00:56:28,200 Speaker 1: things where you would be able to say, well, you know, 1025 00:56:28,280 --> 00:56:31,680 Speaker 1: somebody went down a day or two before him. So 1026 00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:33,239 Speaker 1: I wasn't one of those things where they were like 1027 00:56:33,239 --> 00:56:35,399 Speaker 1: you know, several people a day going, but I don't 1028 00:56:35,440 --> 00:56:37,799 Speaker 1: know that for sure. I don't know the traffic. I 1029 00:56:37,880 --> 00:56:41,200 Speaker 1: have nothing that has ever said what the traffic in 1030 00:56:41,239 --> 00:56:44,120 Speaker 1: that cave is. But there was the one report one 1031 00:56:44,120 --> 00:56:46,719 Speaker 1: guy who went down like really really deep. Who was this, 1032 00:56:46,880 --> 00:56:50,520 Speaker 1: you know, legendary deep and he said he said there 1033 00:56:50,560 --> 00:56:52,799 Speaker 1: was evidence of no one having ever been as far 1034 00:56:52,880 --> 00:56:56,880 Speaker 1: and as he was. So that's true. M Yeah, I'm 1035 00:56:56,920 --> 00:56:59,160 Speaker 1: assuming that most of the divers that played around in 1036 00:56:59,200 --> 00:57:03,640 Speaker 1: Vortech Springs probably they do. They do. Here's the so 1037 00:57:03,719 --> 00:57:06,760 Speaker 1: I talked about for divers that do die in caves 1038 00:57:06,840 --> 00:57:09,320 Speaker 1: is that they tend to cram themselves in a little holes. 1039 00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:12,360 Speaker 1: There's also been a number of cave divers who have 1040 00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:15,840 Speaker 1: disappeared and everybody has gone looking for him, and for 1041 00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:21,080 Speaker 1: several years couldn't find them. And then five ten years later, 1042 00:57:21,240 --> 00:57:23,680 Speaker 1: somebody's bopping along kind of like what Devil was saying, 1043 00:57:23,920 --> 00:57:28,280 Speaker 1: and suddenly spotted and opening. Because again it's pitch black, 1044 00:57:28,520 --> 00:57:31,040 Speaker 1: you only have your lights, so if you're not at 1045 00:57:31,080 --> 00:57:33,440 Speaker 1: the right angle, you may not see it. And they 1046 00:57:33,440 --> 00:57:36,680 Speaker 1: have gone through a bend and they've looked up and 1047 00:57:36,760 --> 00:57:39,840 Speaker 1: there is a mask on the floor and a wetsuit 1048 00:57:39,920 --> 00:57:44,320 Speaker 1: full of bones. It does happen that way, and there's 1049 00:57:44,320 --> 00:57:47,560 Speaker 1: been a great number of a number of divers have 1050 00:57:47,600 --> 00:57:49,080 Speaker 1: been found. Though, Yeah, I don't think it's going to 1051 00:57:49,160 --> 00:57:53,400 Speaker 1: happen again. That's not that's not that complicated. But also 1052 00:57:53,840 --> 00:57:57,040 Speaker 1: also in in Ben's vortex, when the dive team went down, 1053 00:57:57,120 --> 00:57:59,480 Speaker 1: they went down with a high definition camera and a 1054 00:57:59,520 --> 00:58:04,280 Speaker 1: priest all a light like you could see anywhere than 1055 00:58:04,280 --> 00:58:09,800 Speaker 1: anyone could have gone banks that they really illuminated. It 1056 00:58:09,920 --> 00:58:12,680 Speaker 1: was so it felt like you could see everything and 1057 00:58:12,720 --> 00:58:15,400 Speaker 1: there wasn't really any Just know they didn't. They didn't 1058 00:58:16,080 --> 00:58:19,200 Speaker 1: from somebody, miss um. Now, the thing about you said 1059 00:58:19,280 --> 00:58:20,960 Speaker 1: Joe earlier is that Ben was saying that he was 1060 00:58:20,960 --> 00:58:22,640 Speaker 1: going to find the end and he was gonna find 1061 00:58:22,640 --> 00:58:26,640 Speaker 1: things that people had never done before. Again, this is 1062 00:58:26,680 --> 00:58:30,200 Speaker 1: one of those things that his his dad. I don't 1063 00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:33,439 Speaker 1: know how his dad's came upon this, but his dad 1064 00:58:33,560 --> 00:58:37,640 Speaker 1: said online that everybody went the wrong way in the 1065 00:58:37,680 --> 00:58:40,040 Speaker 1: cave and that if they would just go the right way, 1066 00:58:40,080 --> 00:58:44,480 Speaker 1: they would find Ben a lot of sense. No, I 1067 00:58:44,520 --> 00:58:46,840 Speaker 1: know you're joking, but it doesn't make any sense to 1068 00:58:46,840 --> 00:58:51,080 Speaker 1: me because everything I've seen on this nothing supports that 1069 00:58:51,160 --> 00:58:54,640 Speaker 1: so I don't even know where Mr McDaniels got that information. 1070 00:58:55,000 --> 00:58:56,920 Speaker 1: He's never been in there. I mean, I'm sure he's 1071 00:58:56,920 --> 00:58:59,160 Speaker 1: seen the same maps that we've seen. I'm sure he has, 1072 00:58:59,280 --> 00:59:01,640 Speaker 1: if not better ones, And it sounds to me like 1073 00:59:01,920 --> 00:59:04,520 Speaker 1: many many divers dove all the way as far as 1074 00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:06,640 Speaker 1: they could, as far as they could squeeze through. Although 1075 00:59:06,680 --> 00:59:09,600 Speaker 1: I guess the interesting thing is, um, gosh, what's her name, 1076 00:59:09,720 --> 00:59:15,400 Speaker 1: Jill from Ben's vortex? Yeah, Jill, Yeah, she uh. She 1077 00:59:15,560 --> 00:59:18,720 Speaker 1: said that when she looked at the map that Ben 1078 00:59:18,760 --> 00:59:22,520 Speaker 1: had been making, that it didn't correspond at all. She's 1079 00:59:22,560 --> 00:59:24,960 Speaker 1: not the only one with her understanding of the cave, 1080 00:59:25,240 --> 00:59:28,080 Speaker 1: So I guess it is that is an interesting thing. 1081 00:59:28,200 --> 00:59:31,880 Speaker 1: Whether he was mapping it poorly or maybe he did 1082 00:59:33,520 --> 00:59:36,920 Speaker 1: he was going a different way, I don't know, Maybe 1083 00:59:36,960 --> 00:59:40,880 Speaker 1: he wasn't. Maybe there is some hole that leads to 1084 00:59:40,920 --> 00:59:43,160 Speaker 1: a different part out of the you know, piano room 1085 00:59:43,240 --> 00:59:45,880 Speaker 1: for instance, right, so that he hadn't actually been jumping 1086 00:59:45,920 --> 00:59:48,720 Speaker 1: the gate this entire time, that there was some random 1087 00:59:48,760 --> 00:59:50,760 Speaker 1: hole that he had discovered and that's how he went, 1088 00:59:51,640 --> 00:59:54,320 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't think so. I doubt it, 1089 00:59:54,840 --> 00:59:57,280 Speaker 1: because I mean, there was I don't know how many divers. 1090 00:59:57,680 --> 00:59:59,280 Speaker 1: I got the sense at least a couple of dozen 1091 00:59:59,320 --> 01:00:02,840 Speaker 1: divers went down. They're searching the cave. Yeah, and it 1092 01:00:03,120 --> 01:00:06,880 Speaker 1: hundreds of hours of dietime we're logged looking for him. Yeah, 1093 01:00:06,920 --> 01:00:09,800 Speaker 1: and I can't believe that, you know, they've ben found 1094 01:00:09,880 --> 01:00:12,400 Speaker 1: some hole somewhere. I can't believe those guys didn't find 1095 01:00:12,400 --> 01:00:14,120 Speaker 1: it too. I would agree with that unless there was 1096 01:00:14,160 --> 01:00:17,640 Speaker 1: like a sand avalanche. But I mean, yeah, just that's 1097 01:00:17,640 --> 01:00:20,479 Speaker 1: worth mentioning. I guess too. But there's some other really 1098 01:00:20,480 --> 01:00:24,280 Speaker 1: compelling evidence against him not being in there. I guess 1099 01:00:24,360 --> 01:00:26,120 Speaker 1: him being in there. I guess him not being in there, 1100 01:00:26,520 --> 01:00:30,360 Speaker 1: against him being in there, and and that his The 1101 01:00:30,440 --> 01:00:35,400 Speaker 1: cave is full of aquatic life, specifically eels, which are carnivores, 1102 01:00:36,040 --> 01:00:38,880 Speaker 1: and so if there had been a body in the water, 1103 01:00:39,360 --> 01:00:43,840 Speaker 1: there should have been increased activity among the eel population, 1104 01:00:44,720 --> 01:00:48,480 Speaker 1: and there should have also been a spike in the 1105 01:00:48,520 --> 01:00:51,680 Speaker 1: bacteria in the water due to the presence of a 1106 01:00:51,840 --> 01:00:55,040 Speaker 1: decomposing human body. Yeah, they've been testing the water, right 1107 01:00:55,280 --> 01:00:58,920 Speaker 1: they Yeah, they tested it immediately, like a month straight. 1108 01:00:58,960 --> 01:01:03,560 Speaker 1: They tested it, and there's no increased eel activity and 1109 01:01:03,760 --> 01:01:07,400 Speaker 1: there is no spike in the bacteria. So that is 1110 01:01:07,480 --> 01:01:12,280 Speaker 1: what has led the vast majority of people to say 1111 01:01:12,320 --> 01:01:15,560 Speaker 1: there's no way his body's in that cave, because the 1112 01:01:16,320 --> 01:01:22,080 Speaker 1: scientific evidence says he's not here. There's no slings of him. 1113 01:01:22,160 --> 01:01:27,720 Speaker 1: So that then leads us during number two. Ben's not 1114 01:01:27,760 --> 01:01:30,000 Speaker 1: in the cave. Ben's not in the cave, Then where 1115 01:01:30,040 --> 01:01:32,680 Speaker 1: is he. Ben's not alive, but Ben is not in 1116 01:01:32,720 --> 01:01:37,240 Speaker 1: the cave. That is what theory number two is. Okay, 1117 01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:40,520 Speaker 1: so you we've briefly touched on him. There's a guy 1118 01:01:40,600 --> 01:01:44,000 Speaker 1: by the name of Ed Sorensen who threw a series 1119 01:01:44,040 --> 01:01:48,439 Speaker 1: of miscommunications I didn't get to talk to. I tried 1120 01:01:48,480 --> 01:01:52,520 Speaker 1: to line that up. But Ed is in that area 1121 01:01:52,680 --> 01:01:57,240 Speaker 1: and among cave divers he is very well revered. He 1122 01:01:57,440 --> 01:02:00,640 Speaker 1: is one of the most experienced. He has his own 1123 01:02:01,160 --> 01:02:03,840 Speaker 1: he's got his own school and he teaches cave diving. 1124 01:02:03,840 --> 01:02:05,480 Speaker 1: When the guy knows how to cave dive, he's been 1125 01:02:05,520 --> 01:02:10,040 Speaker 1: doing it for years. I read Gripping Tail about this 1126 01:02:10,080 --> 01:02:11,720 Speaker 1: family that had gotten trapped in the cave and he 1127 01:02:11,760 --> 01:02:17,680 Speaker 1: actually wanted to rescue their daughter. Yeah, he's pulled out 1128 01:02:17,760 --> 01:02:20,240 Speaker 1: more than one person alive. Because believe it or not, 1129 01:02:20,560 --> 01:02:23,640 Speaker 1: if you know somebody's lost diving in a cave. Soon enough, 1130 01:02:23,680 --> 01:02:26,840 Speaker 1: you can send a trained professional end to get him. 1131 01:02:27,120 --> 01:02:31,040 Speaker 1: And he has done it multiple times. The guy is 1132 01:02:31,080 --> 01:02:34,280 Speaker 1: a really good diver. He's good at caves and he 1133 01:02:34,320 --> 01:02:36,840 Speaker 1: knows what he's doing. Yeah, if I ever go cave diving, 1134 01:02:36,840 --> 01:02:40,120 Speaker 1: hopefully he's going to be around somewhere nearby. I'll go 1135 01:02:40,160 --> 01:02:43,000 Speaker 1: to the school, but I'm never getting a cave. So 1136 01:02:43,040 --> 01:02:46,480 Speaker 1: the thing is is that Ed shows up several days 1137 01:02:46,520 --> 01:02:49,480 Speaker 1: after Ben has disappeared. They call him in and he says, yeah, 1138 01:02:49,480 --> 01:02:51,840 Speaker 1: I'll go I'll go in and I'll go look. And 1139 01:02:51,920 --> 01:02:55,320 Speaker 1: he's got better equipment for cave diving than Ben had. 1140 01:02:55,720 --> 01:02:59,959 Speaker 1: He's got the experience. He also was using a under 1141 01:03:00,040 --> 01:03:04,840 Speaker 1: water propulsion device, you know, one of those little skimmer things. 1142 01:03:05,120 --> 01:03:07,120 Speaker 1: He could. Always wanted to have one of those, ever 1143 01:03:07,200 --> 01:03:08,520 Speaker 1: since I was a kid, and I wanted to see 1144 01:03:11,120 --> 01:03:13,880 Speaker 1: where he used stuff like that so he could shot 1145 01:03:13,960 --> 01:03:16,640 Speaker 1: himself down through there so he could cover ground faster. 1146 01:03:17,360 --> 01:03:20,600 Speaker 1: And then he started diving the cave. He was dropping 1147 01:03:20,640 --> 01:03:22,919 Speaker 1: tanks along his way, so he had tons of air 1148 01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:27,320 Speaker 1: supply with him, not the band, and then he is 1149 01:03:27,400 --> 01:03:29,840 Speaker 1: he's looking all over and he goes he's the one 1150 01:03:29,880 --> 01:03:34,240 Speaker 1: who went to feet back. Yeah, and he said, listen, 1151 01:03:34,480 --> 01:03:38,280 Speaker 1: there's there was no signs of anybody in that cave. 1152 01:03:38,400 --> 01:03:41,080 Speaker 1: So he is one of the huge proponents of the 1153 01:03:41,840 --> 01:03:44,600 Speaker 1: guy's not in the cave. I didn't find him, and 1154 01:03:44,680 --> 01:03:47,760 Speaker 1: I found everybody else who got lost in over the cave. 1155 01:03:48,680 --> 01:03:50,240 Speaker 1: I kind of I kind of gotta say, well, Lead 1156 01:03:50,240 --> 01:03:52,959 Speaker 1: probably knows what he's talking about. Would say, so, yeah, 1157 01:03:53,200 --> 01:03:57,560 Speaker 1: so he ain't in the cave. Well, that solves that problem. 1158 01:03:57,600 --> 01:04:01,760 Speaker 1: Actually it doesn't it. Then this to a gentleman that 1159 01:04:01,800 --> 01:04:06,400 Speaker 1: we mentioned briefly earlier, which is our resident skeeezy character 1160 01:04:06,440 --> 01:04:11,520 Speaker 1: in this story, the owner Lowe Kelly. Yeah, so the 1161 01:04:11,600 --> 01:04:16,640 Speaker 1: guy who Lowell Kelly, so Mr Kelly, as we said, 1162 01:04:16,680 --> 01:04:21,600 Speaker 1: was the owner of Vortex Springs and uh so he 1163 01:04:21,800 --> 01:04:25,480 Speaker 1: says that he was there the night that Ben disappeared, 1164 01:04:26,040 --> 01:04:29,960 Speaker 1: later than Chuck and EDWARDO. And he said he didn't 1165 01:04:30,000 --> 01:04:35,480 Speaker 1: see Ben and didn't see anything hanky going on except 1166 01:04:35,760 --> 01:04:39,640 Speaker 1: for that random drunk guy he says, walked up at 1167 01:04:39,760 --> 01:04:43,920 Speaker 1: sunset and wanted to go diving. The drunk guy, by 1168 01:04:43,960 --> 01:04:48,200 Speaker 1: the way, is only in Lowell Kelly's account. I've never 1169 01:04:48,240 --> 01:04:52,360 Speaker 1: seen him anywhere else. And he supposedly walked onto the site, 1170 01:04:52,400 --> 01:04:55,680 Speaker 1: which is not easy to do. So I sort of 1171 01:04:55,760 --> 01:04:59,080 Speaker 1: discount the whole drunk guy thing. But Kelly says, maybe, 1172 01:04:59,200 --> 01:05:01,480 Speaker 1: well maybe that guy I was responsive for what happened 1173 01:05:01,480 --> 01:05:04,480 Speaker 1: to Ben. That what he said, well, it's it's it's 1174 01:05:04,520 --> 01:05:11,160 Speaker 1: alluded to. I discount that right away because on foot 1175 01:05:11,240 --> 01:05:14,280 Speaker 1: and drunk is a long way to go to get 1176 01:05:14,400 --> 01:05:18,480 Speaker 1: in there, and so it just kind of it doesn't 1177 01:05:18,480 --> 01:05:24,080 Speaker 1: add up. Um So then, but here's why I don't 1178 01:05:24,120 --> 01:05:27,280 Speaker 1: like low Kelly in general, besides the fact that I 1179 01:05:27,320 --> 01:05:28,800 Speaker 1: just think he was a bit of a dirt bag, 1180 01:05:29,640 --> 01:05:33,440 Speaker 1: is that he had an employee that he said owed 1181 01:05:33,560 --> 01:05:36,280 Speaker 1: him thousands upon thousands of dollars. And by the way, 1182 01:05:36,280 --> 01:05:38,800 Speaker 1: I don't know the date that this happened. That's what 1183 01:05:38,880 --> 01:05:41,760 Speaker 1: I'm about to talk about. It's prior to Ben's disappearance. 1184 01:05:42,280 --> 01:05:46,040 Speaker 1: We know it because he got into legal trouble. But 1185 01:05:46,200 --> 01:05:48,080 Speaker 1: what he did is he had an employee who he 1186 01:05:48,160 --> 01:05:51,360 Speaker 1: said owed him thousands of dollars. He got that employee 1187 01:05:51,400 --> 01:05:55,680 Speaker 1: into his vehicle, we believe under darrest, took them out 1188 01:05:55,800 --> 01:06:01,080 Speaker 1: into the swamp Everglade Woods something something that attempted to 1189 01:06:01,520 --> 01:06:06,720 Speaker 1: extract the money. From them with a baseball bat. Yeah, 1190 01:06:06,960 --> 01:06:11,080 Speaker 1: excepted that employee managed to get away, and low Kelly 1191 01:06:11,160 --> 01:06:15,440 Speaker 1: only earned himself a bunch of charges, kidnapping an assault 1192 01:06:15,560 --> 01:06:20,560 Speaker 1: being two of them, but he got away probation. He 1193 01:06:20,640 --> 01:06:23,560 Speaker 1: got very lucky. He only got probation and he didn't 1194 01:06:23,560 --> 01:06:27,120 Speaker 1: even have to serve all that. Well, I don't know 1195 01:06:27,160 --> 01:06:30,560 Speaker 1: if that was the lucky part. Yeah, yeah, I don't 1196 01:06:30,560 --> 01:06:34,080 Speaker 1: think he had very good luck. Because a year after 1197 01:06:34,840 --> 01:06:39,000 Speaker 1: Ben's disappearance, were looking at two thousand eleven, there's a 1198 01:06:39,040 --> 01:06:45,560 Speaker 1: barbecue happening at Vortex Springs and according to the the story, 1199 01:06:45,800 --> 01:06:49,920 Speaker 1: and I'm using air quotes here, he fell down some stairs. 1200 01:06:50,360 --> 01:06:53,680 Speaker 1: Take that to mean whatever you want. All I know 1201 01:06:53,840 --> 01:06:57,200 Speaker 1: is that he was injured. Somebody gave him a ride 1202 01:06:57,200 --> 01:06:59,520 Speaker 1: home and put him in his bath that night. Somebody 1203 01:06:59,600 --> 01:07:02,160 Speaker 1: else showed up in his house the next day and 1204 01:07:02,240 --> 01:07:06,920 Speaker 1: found him in a very bad stage, in a coma. Well, 1205 01:07:06,960 --> 01:07:08,600 Speaker 1: I don't think he was in a coma quite at 1206 01:07:08,640 --> 01:07:10,680 Speaker 1: that point, but then they took him to the hospital. 1207 01:07:10,760 --> 01:07:13,840 Speaker 1: He was in a coma. He died within a month. 1208 01:07:13,960 --> 01:07:16,680 Speaker 1: After that. He was in hospice for basically a month. 1209 01:07:17,400 --> 01:07:20,520 Speaker 1: Head injuries is what I have to infer. This whole 1210 01:07:20,560 --> 01:07:23,600 Speaker 1: thing means is he fell down the stairs and wailed 1211 01:07:23,720 --> 01:07:26,200 Speaker 1: his head quite severely. And this is one of those 1212 01:07:26,240 --> 01:07:29,640 Speaker 1: cases where you think, well, if instead of taking him 1213 01:07:29,640 --> 01:07:31,760 Speaker 1: home and helping him out of his clothes and helping 1214 01:07:31,800 --> 01:07:34,240 Speaker 1: him in a shower and then laying him down in 1215 01:07:34,360 --> 01:07:36,560 Speaker 1: his bathtub to sleep it off, if you had just 1216 01:07:36,600 --> 01:07:38,880 Speaker 1: taken him to the hospital, he might a lip. It 1217 01:07:38,920 --> 01:07:42,040 Speaker 1: might have been a good idea. Yeah, but he did 1218 01:07:42,080 --> 01:07:43,880 Speaker 1: try to beat money out of a person with a 1219 01:07:43,880 --> 01:07:46,880 Speaker 1: baseball bat, so I don't know. Well, it might have been, 1220 01:07:46,960 --> 01:07:49,000 Speaker 1: it might not have been the person who was helping 1221 01:07:49,080 --> 01:07:51,640 Speaker 1: him call. He may have said, if you take me 1222 01:07:51,680 --> 01:07:54,040 Speaker 1: to the hospital, you're fired. Yeah, I mean, this guy 1223 01:07:54,600 --> 01:07:58,600 Speaker 1: seems the rational behavior to begin with. I'll be honest, 1224 01:07:58,640 --> 01:08:00,880 Speaker 1: I don't necessarily think that he was in a cognitive 1225 01:08:00,920 --> 01:08:04,040 Speaker 1: place to say things like that, but maybe you agree 1226 01:08:04,560 --> 01:08:08,840 Speaker 1: entirely with that. So yeah, so Mr Kelly passed away. Anyway, 1227 01:08:08,840 --> 01:08:11,280 Speaker 1: I'll tell you he's but he has a suspect for you. Well, 1228 01:08:11,280 --> 01:08:15,080 Speaker 1: he's a suspect because let's run down this road. Let's 1229 01:08:15,160 --> 01:08:19,240 Speaker 1: say that Eduardo and Chuck let him in the cave. Well, 1230 01:08:19,360 --> 01:08:24,719 Speaker 1: EDWARDO specifically and Ben goes in and Ben drowns. Well, 1231 01:08:24,960 --> 01:08:28,040 Speaker 1: the water it's an upwelling, it's all coming out of 1232 01:08:28,080 --> 01:08:32,400 Speaker 1: the cave. And it's entirely possible that Ben's body was 1233 01:08:32,520 --> 01:08:36,560 Speaker 1: pushed out of the cave and he came to the surface, 1234 01:08:37,320 --> 01:08:40,880 Speaker 1: at which point Lowell finds him. And I understand that 1235 01:08:40,960 --> 01:08:43,479 Speaker 1: this is hard if you look at the map, because 1236 01:08:44,040 --> 01:08:47,400 Speaker 1: it does some some kind of switchbacks back and forth. Yeah, 1237 01:08:47,479 --> 01:08:49,559 Speaker 1: it's a little hard to believe the body would actually 1238 01:08:49,800 --> 01:08:51,720 Speaker 1: if it was positively point, that it would actually come 1239 01:08:51,800 --> 01:08:54,599 Speaker 1: up to the surface, because there's like a spot, there's 1240 01:08:54,640 --> 01:08:58,760 Speaker 1: several spots, one spot right outside the cave entrance in 1241 01:08:58,840 --> 01:09:01,920 Speaker 1: the piano he was, if he was positively buoyant, where 1242 01:09:01,920 --> 01:09:04,559 Speaker 1: his body would have wound up. Well, I'm not in 1243 01:09:04,600 --> 01:09:07,599 Speaker 1: disagreement with that, particularly for it to have happened that fast. 1244 01:09:08,760 --> 01:09:11,960 Speaker 1: It's possible. I mean, also could have gotten caught on 1245 01:09:12,000 --> 01:09:13,840 Speaker 1: the gate. He probably would have got I mean, the 1246 01:09:13,960 --> 01:09:17,320 Speaker 1: hole in the gate isn't that big. Okay, So maybe 1247 01:09:17,439 --> 01:09:20,639 Speaker 1: Eduardo and Chuck said something to Lowell, and at nine 1248 01:09:20,640 --> 01:09:24,679 Speaker 1: o'clock Lowell went down and found Ben dead. Okay, let's 1249 01:09:24,680 --> 01:09:29,080 Speaker 1: add that to the mix. Either way, Lowell realizes that 1250 01:09:29,160 --> 01:09:33,000 Speaker 1: Ben is drowned and Lowell has already dealt with the 1251 01:09:33,000 --> 01:09:36,120 Speaker 1: heat of the divers that died in that cave in 1252 01:09:36,160 --> 01:09:38,240 Speaker 1: the past and says he got rid of the body. 1253 01:09:38,320 --> 01:09:40,360 Speaker 1: I got to get rid of the body. So he 1254 01:09:40,479 --> 01:09:43,320 Speaker 1: hauls Ben out and he takes him somewhere and he 1255 01:09:43,400 --> 01:09:45,360 Speaker 1: buries him, or he throws him in a swamp and 1256 01:09:45,439 --> 01:09:47,720 Speaker 1: lets the gators get him. Can I tell you what 1257 01:09:47,800 --> 01:09:52,200 Speaker 1: I think about this theory? Yeah, well, it sucks because 1258 01:09:53,080 --> 01:09:54,920 Speaker 1: he didn't do a very good job of sanitizing the 1259 01:09:54,960 --> 01:09:57,760 Speaker 1: crime scene. Remember one he leaves, He leaves the three 1260 01:09:57,800 --> 01:10:01,200 Speaker 1: tanks behind in a pickup truck, all of which you 1261 01:10:01,200 --> 01:10:03,240 Speaker 1: know he would think he would have gotten rid of. 1262 01:10:04,760 --> 01:10:09,840 Speaker 1: So here's a question. What if Ben, Well, what if 1263 01:10:09,840 --> 01:10:13,600 Speaker 1: actually luell Um said, hey, Edward, oh, Chuck, I know 1264 01:10:13,680 --> 01:10:15,560 Speaker 1: you guys usually hang out wait for Ben, but I 1265 01:10:16,080 --> 01:10:19,920 Speaker 1: can stay. I'll stay, right, So that explains why they 1266 01:10:19,920 --> 01:10:23,000 Speaker 1: didn't stay, because that's extremely out of the ordinary for them. 1267 01:10:23,280 --> 01:10:26,599 Speaker 1: He goes down and you know, finds Ben, or maybe 1268 01:10:26,640 --> 01:10:29,280 Speaker 1: he's annoyed with Ben or I don't know what you know. 1269 01:10:29,360 --> 01:10:32,120 Speaker 1: So he does pull him up, but then he thinks, okay, 1270 01:10:32,200 --> 01:10:36,519 Speaker 1: if I just leave the truck and leave the tanks 1271 01:10:36,520 --> 01:10:38,920 Speaker 1: and leave everything else. People will just assume that Ben 1272 01:10:39,000 --> 01:10:42,160 Speaker 1: drowned and it will be a non issue and there 1273 01:10:42,200 --> 01:10:44,599 Speaker 1: won't be a thing. I mean, why sanitize it that much? 1274 01:10:45,080 --> 01:10:49,280 Speaker 1: Because he's trying to, Because there's two reasons. Either a 1275 01:10:49,840 --> 01:10:53,160 Speaker 1: he doesn't want the heat that he has already gotten 1276 01:10:53,280 --> 01:10:58,280 Speaker 1: by having divers die in the cave before, which by 1277 01:10:58,360 --> 01:11:01,680 Speaker 1: not sanitizing the crime scene he and up getting anyway. 1278 01:11:01,840 --> 01:11:08,240 Speaker 1: Or it's entirely possible that some shady dealings were going 1279 01:11:08,360 --> 01:11:13,360 Speaker 1: on on property at night, at which point you want 1280 01:11:13,439 --> 01:11:17,680 Speaker 1: to get rid of the cops any attention from the police, like, 1281 01:11:17,800 --> 01:11:19,559 Speaker 1: you know, get get him away, Get him away, get 1282 01:11:19,600 --> 01:11:23,040 Speaker 1: him away. I have nothing to say that Kelly was 1283 01:11:23,080 --> 01:11:27,320 Speaker 1: doing anything weird like that, but it's the only thing 1284 01:11:27,479 --> 01:11:30,800 Speaker 1: that I can think of that would justify him ditch 1285 01:11:30,840 --> 01:11:33,880 Speaker 1: in the body. But I completely agree with Joe that 1286 01:11:34,080 --> 01:11:38,080 Speaker 1: he would leave a truck that is a prime evidence 1287 01:11:38,520 --> 01:11:40,720 Speaker 1: and oh it just happens to have a bunch of 1288 01:11:40,760 --> 01:11:43,800 Speaker 1: money sitting in it as well. It doesn't make any 1289 01:11:43,880 --> 01:11:46,840 Speaker 1: sense for him to get rid of the body, not 1290 01:11:47,040 --> 01:11:49,679 Speaker 1: get rid of the truck. And because if the truck 1291 01:11:49,920 --> 01:11:53,200 Speaker 1: and the tanks, but if the truck has found fifty 1292 01:11:53,200 --> 01:11:56,800 Speaker 1: miles away. Yeah, well that's the beauty part. How does 1293 01:11:56,840 --> 01:12:02,479 Speaker 1: he move the truck with the keys? He way? I 1294 01:12:01,960 --> 01:12:04,200 Speaker 1: I don't Yeah, I don't know exactly what you do 1295 01:12:04,240 --> 01:12:06,439 Speaker 1: when you're scuba diving. If you have a locker inside 1296 01:12:06,439 --> 01:12:08,599 Speaker 1: the scuba shop, maybe will you leave your leave your 1297 01:12:08,600 --> 01:12:11,759 Speaker 1: wallet and your keys and stuff. Yeah, I'm not really sure, 1298 01:12:11,800 --> 01:12:13,080 Speaker 1: but I'm sure there was a way to get into 1299 01:12:13,080 --> 01:12:16,600 Speaker 1: the truck. Well, frankly, I think it cast less suspicious 1300 01:12:16,640 --> 01:12:19,960 Speaker 1: on low if something like if he did kill Lull 1301 01:12:20,080 --> 01:12:22,960 Speaker 1: for instance, right, if he liked actively killed Ben. I'm 1302 01:12:23,000 --> 01:12:26,160 Speaker 1: sorry if law killed Ben. Yeah, if Ben killed Loule, 1303 01:12:26,280 --> 01:12:30,240 Speaker 1: he did a hell ofmet changing. But so then it 1304 01:12:30,360 --> 01:12:32,519 Speaker 1: is less suspicious that the cars there and the money 1305 01:12:32,560 --> 01:12:34,280 Speaker 1: is there and all that stuff because you just assumed 1306 01:12:34,320 --> 01:12:36,240 Speaker 1: that something happened to him. Yeah, okay, like you may 1307 01:12:36,280 --> 01:12:39,519 Speaker 1: catch heat for like another person died, but if you 1308 01:12:39,600 --> 01:12:42,200 Speaker 1: have a ward of saying, listen, this guy didn't know 1309 01:12:42,200 --> 01:12:44,200 Speaker 1: what he was doing, but I let him in anyway 1310 01:12:44,200 --> 01:12:46,120 Speaker 1: because he was going to go in anyway, and you 1311 01:12:46,160 --> 01:12:48,200 Speaker 1: were able to kind of cast this in this guy 1312 01:12:48,320 --> 01:12:50,120 Speaker 1: like these people didn't. This guy didn't know what he 1313 01:12:50,160 --> 01:12:52,640 Speaker 1: was doing. He just he accidentally killed himself. It was 1314 01:12:52,680 --> 01:12:57,000 Speaker 1: an accident. Maybe that's less heat than oh yeah killed 1315 01:12:57,040 --> 01:13:00,120 Speaker 1: the guy. I mean, well, I still don't understand his 1316 01:13:00,200 --> 01:13:03,000 Speaker 1: motivation to Yeah, I don't. I don't think. There's been 1317 01:13:03,000 --> 01:13:04,920 Speaker 1: a lot of talk about how shady some of these 1318 01:13:04,920 --> 01:13:07,120 Speaker 1: people were, and I'm not sure that any of them 1319 01:13:07,200 --> 01:13:10,160 Speaker 1: really were all that shady. But the thing about it 1320 01:13:10,200 --> 01:13:13,000 Speaker 1: is is when you when you commit murder, you don't 1321 01:13:13,080 --> 01:13:16,200 Speaker 1: leave the corpse. Like I work in an office. Now, 1322 01:13:16,320 --> 01:13:18,439 Speaker 1: if I was to go murder somebody in dispose of 1323 01:13:18,439 --> 01:13:20,200 Speaker 1: the body, I wouldn't leave it in the lobby of 1324 01:13:20,240 --> 01:13:23,200 Speaker 1: the office building I work in. I would say, I 1325 01:13:23,240 --> 01:13:25,280 Speaker 1: would take it out. I would bake that body disappear 1326 01:13:25,360 --> 01:13:28,120 Speaker 1: permanently somewhere far away from me. Yeah, I mean so, 1327 01:13:28,160 --> 01:13:30,839 Speaker 1: I don't think anybody that worked at at Vortex Springs 1328 01:13:30,960 --> 01:13:34,479 Speaker 1: is really a suspect in my book. But if you're 1329 01:13:34,520 --> 01:13:37,360 Speaker 1: somebody who hung out at Vortex Springs and you happen 1330 01:13:37,400 --> 01:13:39,120 Speaker 1: to know Ben, and you know he's spending a lot 1331 01:13:39,160 --> 01:13:42,320 Speaker 1: of time, you know, in that cave pushing the envelopen stuff, 1332 01:13:42,720 --> 01:13:44,719 Speaker 1: and for some reason or another, you kill him, either 1333 01:13:44,760 --> 01:13:48,000 Speaker 1: deliberately or accidentally. Well, you get rid of the body 1334 01:13:48,120 --> 01:13:50,840 Speaker 1: and then you go park his truck and then draw 1335 01:13:50,960 --> 01:13:53,360 Speaker 1: and drop some tanks into the end of the vortex. 1336 01:13:54,040 --> 01:13:55,720 Speaker 1: So there's one spot if you dropped him in here, 1337 01:13:55,760 --> 01:13:58,120 Speaker 1: I'm not I don't think a tank would roll all 1338 01:13:58,160 --> 01:14:00,360 Speaker 1: the way down to the gate. I mean if it 1339 01:14:00,400 --> 01:14:03,120 Speaker 1: got past this one. So that what Joe is pointing 1340 01:14:03,120 --> 01:14:05,800 Speaker 1: too is the map, And on the map there's a 1341 01:14:05,800 --> 01:14:09,679 Speaker 1: bit of a bend in the base of the bowl 1342 01:14:09,840 --> 01:14:13,000 Speaker 1: before it rolls into the actual cave itself. Yeah, and 1343 01:14:13,120 --> 01:14:15,840 Speaker 1: I don't think, Joe, I I think what you're getting 1344 01:14:15,840 --> 01:14:18,560 Speaker 1: at is it is nearly impossible for somebody to be 1345 01:14:18,600 --> 01:14:22,360 Speaker 1: able to from the surface to set tanks in. I 1346 01:14:22,360 --> 01:14:24,080 Speaker 1: would have to have them get all the way to 1347 01:14:24,120 --> 01:14:27,320 Speaker 1: the bottom. It would have to be a diver, Yes, 1348 01:14:28,000 --> 01:14:30,200 Speaker 1: have to be a diver. But here's here's the thing, though, 1349 01:14:30,200 --> 01:14:32,759 Speaker 1: is that if you got to that cave entrance point 1350 01:14:32,760 --> 01:14:36,400 Speaker 1: this point right here where where it narrows down, and 1351 01:14:36,680 --> 01:14:39,400 Speaker 1: you just started just rolled that thing down, it would 1352 01:14:39,439 --> 01:14:42,400 Speaker 1: go all the way to the gate and it wouldn't 1353 01:14:42,400 --> 01:14:44,320 Speaker 1: go any further. It can't roll any further because there's 1354 01:14:44,320 --> 01:14:46,760 Speaker 1: a gate there. So you can drop it there so 1355 01:14:46,800 --> 01:14:48,840 Speaker 1: I'm just saying, if somebody wanted to if somebody wanted 1356 01:14:48,840 --> 01:14:52,360 Speaker 1: to kill him, somebody wanted to disappear him, disappear him, 1357 01:14:52,400 --> 01:14:57,360 Speaker 1: and then and then totally totally misdirect everything. You take 1358 01:14:57,400 --> 01:14:59,760 Speaker 1: his truck, you park it there, and you put the 1359 01:14:59,760 --> 01:15:03,240 Speaker 1: tank in the in the vortex, and then in the spring. 1360 01:15:03,479 --> 01:15:08,200 Speaker 1: I guess, I mean, I guess we don't know that. 1361 01:15:08,439 --> 01:15:10,559 Speaker 1: I mean, we don't know that. We don't know actually 1362 01:15:10,560 --> 01:15:13,400 Speaker 1: that he didn't successfully complete his dive that night and 1363 01:15:13,520 --> 01:15:16,280 Speaker 1: leave and go home. I was just going to say, 1364 01:15:16,439 --> 01:15:20,640 Speaker 1: we don't know with certainty that who what EDWARDO and 1365 01:15:20,720 --> 01:15:24,360 Speaker 1: Chuck saw was in fact Ben. That's true too, I mean, 1366 01:15:24,439 --> 01:15:26,160 Speaker 1: I see, I assume they sort of knew what they 1367 01:15:26,280 --> 01:15:28,280 Speaker 1: identified because he knew what his gear looked like like 1368 01:15:28,360 --> 01:15:30,840 Speaker 1: as wet suiting his tanks. Yeah, but it could have 1369 01:15:30,880 --> 01:15:34,519 Speaker 1: been somebody else in his stuff. I guess that is 1370 01:15:34,680 --> 01:15:39,360 Speaker 1: that is? Are you okay? I'm just gonna I just 1371 01:15:39,400 --> 01:15:41,000 Speaker 1: want to ask you a question, because I'm not sure 1372 01:15:41,000 --> 01:15:42,800 Speaker 1: if I know where you're heading here. Are you saying 1373 01:15:42,840 --> 01:15:45,920 Speaker 1: that it could have been Low in Ben's gear? Not 1374 01:15:46,040 --> 01:15:48,240 Speaker 1: just Low? I'm just saying, if we're going to say 1375 01:15:48,360 --> 01:15:52,800 Speaker 1: somebody had killed Ben and disposed of his body. Then 1376 01:15:52,880 --> 01:15:57,759 Speaker 1: they created this whole other thing, right that Ben maybe 1377 01:15:57,760 --> 01:16:00,240 Speaker 1: didn't actually do. Maybe Ben had been dead for ours, 1378 01:16:00,320 --> 01:16:02,840 Speaker 1: maybe he had not been dead for hours, but that 1379 01:16:03,000 --> 01:16:06,720 Speaker 1: a decoy story was set for him to set up 1380 01:16:06,760 --> 01:16:11,320 Speaker 1: the idea that he I know was the red blue pillar, 1381 01:16:11,400 --> 01:16:15,000 Speaker 1: the blue pillar. Just totally absolutely. But I'm just saying 1382 01:16:15,000 --> 01:16:17,600 Speaker 1: that it is possible because it is. No, it's a 1383 01:16:17,640 --> 01:16:19,640 Speaker 1: that's a good point because you know, how do you 1384 01:16:19,680 --> 01:16:23,360 Speaker 1: identify a guy by his gear? I'm assumed the most 1385 01:16:23,360 --> 01:16:26,040 Speaker 1: part of the dark. Yeah, but all the you know 1386 01:16:26,080 --> 01:16:28,400 Speaker 1: what if I saw the guy based on the video 1387 01:16:28,479 --> 01:16:31,200 Speaker 1: we saw, if I saw him several times, that is 1388 01:16:31,320 --> 01:16:36,200 Speaker 1: it's pretty it's a pretty unique set up. His specific helmet, 1389 01:16:36,880 --> 01:16:40,720 Speaker 1: his mask is not every mask is the same, his tanks, 1390 01:16:41,280 --> 01:16:44,639 Speaker 1: but it's gear. It's his gear. So like if somebody 1391 01:16:44,760 --> 01:16:47,080 Speaker 1: dressed in Ben's gear, even if they were like not 1392 01:16:47,280 --> 01:16:50,960 Speaker 1: six feet and two pounds, if they were kind of close, 1393 01:16:51,360 --> 01:16:54,800 Speaker 1: it'd be pretty easy in that much dark to just say, oh, yeah, 1394 01:16:54,800 --> 01:16:57,120 Speaker 1: it's been Yeah. So all this guy was doing is 1395 01:16:57,320 --> 01:16:59,400 Speaker 1: what that guy was doing, and he was just placing 1396 01:16:59,439 --> 01:17:01,599 Speaker 1: the truck there and taking the tanks down to plant them. 1397 01:17:02,160 --> 01:17:05,920 Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean it's not likely, but it's possible. Yeah, 1398 01:17:06,000 --> 01:17:08,960 Speaker 1: And and and I think the reason probably the tank 1399 01:17:09,040 --> 01:17:11,240 Speaker 1: wasn't any further than the gate is that guy whoever 1400 01:17:11,280 --> 01:17:14,880 Speaker 1: it was and then again saw hypothetical, really didn't want 1401 01:17:14,880 --> 01:17:17,720 Speaker 1: to go past the gate. Uh maybe in the g 1402 01:17:18,000 --> 01:17:20,200 Speaker 1: yeah exactly. So I'm just I'm just gonna drop it 1403 01:17:20,280 --> 01:17:22,320 Speaker 1: right here. That's good. And so and then and then 1404 01:17:22,640 --> 01:17:24,200 Speaker 1: hung out down in the piano room for a while, 1405 01:17:24,200 --> 01:17:26,040 Speaker 1: just hung out, hung out for a while, you know, 1406 01:17:26,160 --> 01:17:30,120 Speaker 1: and then you know, yeah, and then eventually after it's dark, 1407 01:17:30,200 --> 01:17:32,320 Speaker 1: you know, yes, it's still they're on out and then 1408 01:17:32,720 --> 01:17:35,040 Speaker 1: going on and walk home, and and that in fact, 1409 01:17:35,080 --> 01:17:38,439 Speaker 1: it might be that. So how far you know, the 1410 01:17:39,080 --> 01:17:43,760 Speaker 1: talking box? How far down is that vertically? Yeah, I 1411 01:17:43,760 --> 01:17:47,200 Speaker 1: think it's forty Yeah, it's I think that it's anybody 1412 01:17:47,280 --> 01:17:50,400 Speaker 1: can any regular diver can get to that box. Yeah. 1413 01:17:50,720 --> 01:17:53,240 Speaker 1: So my understanding is this is that so if you 1414 01:17:53,320 --> 01:17:55,240 Speaker 1: hang out down there and you you go through your 1415 01:17:55,320 --> 01:17:59,000 Speaker 1: complete decompression routine. And then was my understanding is that 1416 01:17:59,160 --> 01:18:02,559 Speaker 1: the two tank they found, one down low and one 1417 01:18:02,680 --> 01:18:06,160 Speaker 1: up on the platform where the talking box is. Now 1418 01:18:06,320 --> 01:18:09,120 Speaker 1: imagine you know, you just you just parked the truck there, 1419 01:18:09,640 --> 01:18:12,360 Speaker 1: so you're gonna have to hoof it. You gotta walk aways, 1420 01:18:12,760 --> 01:18:15,200 Speaker 1: and do you you gotta you gotta take those tanks 1421 01:18:15,240 --> 01:18:18,519 Speaker 1: with you or you can just leave behind. So whoever 1422 01:18:18,560 --> 01:18:20,880 Speaker 1: it was could have just left them on the platform 1423 01:18:20,960 --> 01:18:23,280 Speaker 1: at the talking box and then just swam up to 1424 01:18:23,280 --> 01:18:27,400 Speaker 1: the surface and gotten out that way. So that's that's 1425 01:18:27,439 --> 01:18:30,280 Speaker 1: just a rough theory. Yeah, I mean we're we're in 1426 01:18:30,320 --> 01:18:33,479 Speaker 1: conjecture canyon at this point first, very much. So, Yeah, 1427 01:18:33,479 --> 01:18:36,760 Speaker 1: because I but I think that foul play is is 1428 01:18:36,840 --> 01:18:40,759 Speaker 1: quite possible here. So I think we've covered that theory 1429 01:18:40,800 --> 01:18:44,000 Speaker 1: and be it to death. Yeah, let's let's go to 1430 01:18:44,040 --> 01:18:47,880 Speaker 1: our final theory. Let's dive into it, which is that 1431 01:18:48,680 --> 01:18:51,320 Speaker 1: Ben ran away and started a new life. He's living 1432 01:18:51,320 --> 01:18:55,120 Speaker 1: out a farm with Dorothy Arnold Amelia Earhart. I know 1433 01:18:55,360 --> 01:18:59,840 Speaker 1: that every disappeared person's story comes across as and they 1434 01:19:00,160 --> 01:19:03,400 Speaker 1: left to start a new life. Actually pretty good. This 1435 01:19:03,400 --> 01:19:07,000 Speaker 1: one's actually got some legs under it, small legs, yes, 1436 01:19:07,000 --> 01:19:10,160 Speaker 1: they're short legs. So it's a very short theory. So 1437 01:19:10,200 --> 01:19:12,320 Speaker 1: we talked about this a little bit already. Is that 1438 01:19:12,360 --> 01:19:16,240 Speaker 1: there's a documentary out there called Ben's vortex, and we 1439 01:19:16,439 --> 01:19:18,720 Speaker 1: haven't really taught. We've talked about things we saw in it, 1440 01:19:18,760 --> 01:19:21,519 Speaker 1: but what it is it's a husband and wife team 1441 01:19:21,800 --> 01:19:25,800 Speaker 1: of documentary makers who also happened to be divers. Well, 1442 01:19:25,800 --> 01:19:29,719 Speaker 1: they're both divers. Jill the wife is a cave diver 1443 01:19:30,040 --> 01:19:36,840 Speaker 1: professional and yeah, Robert McClellan, he is not, but he 1444 01:19:36,960 --> 01:19:41,640 Speaker 1: is a diver. So they started making a documentary and 1445 01:19:41,640 --> 01:19:44,080 Speaker 1: their initial idea was, listen, we're gonna go in, We're 1446 01:19:44,080 --> 01:19:46,680 Speaker 1: gonna film the cave. We're gonna bring this back to 1447 01:19:46,720 --> 01:19:50,400 Speaker 1: Ben's parents so that they understand how what this cave 1448 01:19:50,520 --> 01:19:53,120 Speaker 1: is like and that he's not in there, so that 1449 01:19:53,160 --> 01:19:57,200 Speaker 1: they'll take the reward away, so that they'll stop enticing 1450 01:19:57,240 --> 01:20:01,400 Speaker 1: people to go in there and potentially lose their life. Now, 1451 01:20:01,880 --> 01:20:06,799 Speaker 1: over the course of their documentary, Jill changes her position 1452 01:20:06,840 --> 01:20:09,320 Speaker 1: a hundred and eighty degree. She comes to believe that 1453 01:20:09,400 --> 01:20:13,559 Speaker 1: Ben is in the cave based on his maps, but 1454 01:20:13,880 --> 01:20:17,160 Speaker 1: her husband, he Robert, he's still to this day thinks 1455 01:20:17,200 --> 01:20:22,040 Speaker 1: that Ben just skipped down. That I appreciate that bit 1456 01:20:22,120 --> 01:20:26,160 Speaker 1: about this documentary the most because they don't follow a 1457 01:20:26,200 --> 01:20:29,360 Speaker 1: common line. They don't and and she outright says like 1458 01:20:29,520 --> 01:20:32,320 Speaker 1: I really want to say he's not in the cave, 1459 01:20:32,760 --> 01:20:37,120 Speaker 1: but I think he's in the cave, which is crazy, 1460 01:20:37,439 --> 01:20:41,639 Speaker 1: especially because her husband even says sorry. But her husband 1461 01:20:41,640 --> 01:20:43,720 Speaker 1: even says, you are the one who presented me with 1462 01:20:43,760 --> 01:20:45,720 Speaker 1: all of the evidence to say that he is not 1463 01:20:45,800 --> 01:20:47,439 Speaker 1: in the cave, which is why I think he's not 1464 01:20:47,520 --> 01:20:49,080 Speaker 1: in the cave. And she goes, I know, but I 1465 01:20:49,160 --> 01:20:52,280 Speaker 1: think he's in the cave. It's great, like it's a 1466 01:20:52,360 --> 01:20:54,400 Speaker 1: totally it's a hung jury. It's one of a few 1467 01:20:54,400 --> 01:20:57,559 Speaker 1: times you see that. So here's the here's the thing 1468 01:20:57,560 --> 01:21:02,479 Speaker 1: about the the documentary. It's really interesting. But Ben's parents, 1469 01:21:02,520 --> 01:21:05,439 Speaker 1: they go to visit the family and they are very 1470 01:21:05,560 --> 01:21:09,200 Speaker 1: open with these folks, and they let them film everything 1471 01:21:09,240 --> 01:21:13,040 Speaker 1: and they talk with them, and at one point they 1472 01:21:13,080 --> 01:21:15,599 Speaker 1: come to realize that Ben is not their only son, 1473 01:21:15,760 --> 01:21:18,960 Speaker 1: but they actually have three sons. Uh. And they had 1474 01:21:19,000 --> 01:21:22,120 Speaker 1: a son whose name was Paul, and he had died 1475 01:21:22,160 --> 01:21:25,800 Speaker 1: two years prior, at the age of twenty two from 1476 01:21:25,840 --> 01:21:28,280 Speaker 1: a stroke or if you if you look go out 1477 01:21:28,280 --> 01:21:30,519 Speaker 1: and read, and he died of an overdose. But you know, well, 1478 01:21:30,560 --> 01:21:32,559 Speaker 1: that's that's what that's what it starts to come out 1479 01:21:32,800 --> 01:21:36,479 Speaker 1: as they start looking at the autopsy, and as they 1480 01:21:36,520 --> 01:21:40,240 Speaker 1: start um digging into some of the history, they come 1481 01:21:40,280 --> 01:21:45,519 Speaker 1: to question the stroke theory. So they settle on and 1482 01:21:45,560 --> 01:21:48,800 Speaker 1: they get the it's the autopsic report, right, They get 1483 01:21:48,840 --> 01:21:52,320 Speaker 1: the autopsy report and it says overdose on it. So 1484 01:21:52,479 --> 01:21:55,360 Speaker 1: then they start to think about what the family has 1485 01:21:55,400 --> 01:21:59,960 Speaker 1: done and they realized that, well, they're they're strangely controlled 1486 01:22:00,120 --> 01:22:04,200 Speaker 1: about information and the way things are presented, which from 1487 01:22:04,200 --> 01:22:06,840 Speaker 1: one perspective, I totally get their grieving family and they 1488 01:22:06,920 --> 01:22:09,720 Speaker 1: want their child to be put in the best light. 1489 01:22:09,880 --> 01:22:13,080 Speaker 1: But on the other side, they start this whole thing, 1490 01:22:13,400 --> 01:22:18,720 Speaker 1: this whole foundation for stroke prevention, which is something that 1491 01:22:18,760 --> 01:22:23,800 Speaker 1: their kid didn't die from. So it's a little kind 1492 01:22:23,800 --> 01:22:27,080 Speaker 1: of heading it up and everything. Yeah, so it's very questionable. 1493 01:22:27,560 --> 01:22:30,679 Speaker 1: And as you read correspondence from Ben to his family, 1494 01:22:31,120 --> 01:22:35,080 Speaker 1: he always makes sure it always did everything that he writes, 1495 01:22:35,320 --> 01:22:38,880 Speaker 1: he's always thanking his parents for everything they've done. Now 1496 01:22:38,920 --> 01:22:42,120 Speaker 1: that could be because a he realizes how much they've 1497 01:22:42,160 --> 01:22:45,880 Speaker 1: done for him and he is sincerely thankful, or it's 1498 01:22:45,920 --> 01:22:50,519 Speaker 1: brought up maybe that's because he is required to say 1499 01:22:50,560 --> 01:22:54,439 Speaker 1: those kind of things for the cash to keep coming 1500 01:22:54,479 --> 01:22:58,360 Speaker 1: in or the hell to not rain down and I 1501 01:22:58,439 --> 01:23:01,240 Speaker 1: don't I don't know, I mean just conjecture. Well, and 1502 01:23:01,280 --> 01:23:03,680 Speaker 1: we should clarify that when we say required, it's not 1503 01:23:03,760 --> 01:23:05,960 Speaker 1: as though his parents said, listen, if you don't say 1504 01:23:06,000 --> 01:23:08,360 Speaker 1: to us every single time, it's a learned behavior. It's 1505 01:23:08,360 --> 01:23:10,639 Speaker 1: a learned behavior, right. I mean, I think almost every 1506 01:23:10,720 --> 01:23:14,040 Speaker 1: kid who's ever relied on their parents as an adult 1507 01:23:14,600 --> 01:23:18,200 Speaker 1: learns that what you I mean, whether you feel it 1508 01:23:18,320 --> 01:23:21,680 Speaker 1: or not, you have to say, I am so thankful 1509 01:23:21,760 --> 01:23:24,519 Speaker 1: to you, and that's how you keep getting things. Yeah. Absolutely, 1510 01:23:24,720 --> 01:23:27,400 Speaker 1: it's true. Because as soon as you start saying, ah, man, 1511 01:23:27,520 --> 01:23:30,400 Speaker 1: screw you guys, they're gonna be like, okay, just kidding, 1512 01:23:30,600 --> 01:23:32,800 Speaker 1: we won't give you a bunch of Hey mom, Dad, 1513 01:23:32,880 --> 01:23:35,759 Speaker 1: you're a total senter jerks. Oh well, you know it's positive. 1514 01:23:35,800 --> 01:23:37,639 Speaker 1: We're going to make for you because we love you. 1515 01:23:37,840 --> 01:23:39,640 Speaker 1: Never mind, we don't love you that, we don't love 1516 01:23:39,640 --> 01:23:43,760 Speaker 1: you that much. Instead, Dad wants a new new motorcycle. 1517 01:23:44,120 --> 01:23:46,599 Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's that's that's the way it comes across. 1518 01:23:46,600 --> 01:23:51,760 Speaker 1: Its completely possible. So now, so let me get this straight. So, um, so, 1519 01:23:51,800 --> 01:23:55,360 Speaker 1: he's living for free in this condo in Florida, and 1520 01:23:55,840 --> 01:23:59,080 Speaker 1: um and also getting cash with the parents and all 1521 01:23:59,120 --> 01:24:02,160 Speaker 1: he's got to do is say thanks occasionally. So is 1522 01:24:02,200 --> 01:24:04,200 Speaker 1: that the kind of job you would quit? No? No, 1523 01:24:04,680 --> 01:24:07,000 Speaker 1: And that is my problem with this theory is that 1524 01:24:07,120 --> 01:24:10,080 Speaker 1: if Ben ran away, let's the theory is just so 1525 01:24:10,120 --> 01:24:12,960 Speaker 1: we lay it out in its entirety, is that Ben 1526 01:24:13,000 --> 01:24:18,639 Speaker 1: went down, Ben came up and marched on foot with 1527 01:24:18,800 --> 01:24:23,720 Speaker 1: his gear out of vortex springs, or had somebody meet 1528 01:24:23,880 --> 01:24:27,599 Speaker 1: him and took him there and left his truck behind. 1529 01:24:28,280 --> 01:24:31,200 Speaker 1: My problem with that theory is that he would have 1530 01:24:31,240 --> 01:24:33,879 Speaker 1: had to start over, so he wouldn't have had any cash. 1531 01:24:34,000 --> 01:24:36,000 Speaker 1: So it seems crazy to me that he would have 1532 01:24:36,080 --> 01:24:39,519 Speaker 1: left the wallet with seven bucks in it exactly I mean, 1533 01:24:39,560 --> 01:24:42,439 Speaker 1: I mean it leads credibility to the dying idea. If 1534 01:24:42,439 --> 01:24:44,759 Speaker 1: you leave a wallet with least a couple of hundred 1535 01:24:44,760 --> 01:24:48,160 Speaker 1: bucks in it, but seven hundred bucks and also also 1536 01:24:48,240 --> 01:24:50,880 Speaker 1: the dog. You know, he left his dog behind. His 1537 01:24:51,000 --> 01:24:54,960 Speaker 1: dog could have starved. The dog is troubling. The cash 1538 01:24:55,040 --> 01:24:58,000 Speaker 1: is less troubling to me. It doesn't seem to me 1539 01:24:58,240 --> 01:25:01,280 Speaker 1: that seven hundred dollars seemed like a ton of money 1540 01:25:01,320 --> 01:25:05,080 Speaker 1: to him, given that he was having seen the house 1541 01:25:05,120 --> 01:25:07,880 Speaker 1: that he grew up in in Tennessee. And you know, 1542 01:25:07,920 --> 01:25:09,960 Speaker 1: it's possible that he had a bunch of money while 1543 01:25:10,000 --> 01:25:12,000 Speaker 1: away and it was just like whatever he had in 1544 01:25:12,120 --> 01:25:14,519 Speaker 1: his wallet at the time. I mean, yeah, I think 1545 01:25:14,520 --> 01:25:16,200 Speaker 1: seven hundred dollars a lot of money. I think most 1546 01:25:16,200 --> 01:25:18,000 Speaker 1: people do. But I also didn't grow up in a 1547 01:25:18,040 --> 01:25:20,760 Speaker 1: house like he did. But my, I guess my my 1548 01:25:20,920 --> 01:25:24,080 Speaker 1: issue and why I pointed the seven hundred bucks is 1549 01:25:24,120 --> 01:25:26,679 Speaker 1: that he's going to have to start over. And chances 1550 01:25:26,720 --> 01:25:29,400 Speaker 1: are when he starts over, he's going to have to 1551 01:25:29,520 --> 01:25:33,519 Speaker 1: start over in a lifestyle he is entirely not accustomed to. 1552 01:25:34,320 --> 01:25:36,960 Speaker 1: So knowing that you were going to have to live 1553 01:25:37,000 --> 01:25:40,840 Speaker 1: like you've cheaper and than you've ever done it, and 1554 01:25:40,960 --> 01:25:45,200 Speaker 1: so under the radar, you take every dollar that you 1555 01:25:45,360 --> 01:25:48,720 Speaker 1: could conceivably take. That That's what I would if if 1556 01:25:48,760 --> 01:25:51,599 Speaker 1: I was going to disappear. Yeah, but you've lived poor before. 1557 01:25:51,880 --> 01:25:54,320 Speaker 1: I have. Yeah, So like I know some kids who 1558 01:25:54,320 --> 01:25:57,400 Speaker 1: have never lived poor before in their entire lives. And 1559 01:25:57,439 --> 01:26:01,400 Speaker 1: then like we went to college and suddenly their parents 1560 01:26:01,400 --> 01:26:04,000 Speaker 1: were like, well, we'll give you seven d a month 1561 01:26:04,040 --> 01:26:06,559 Speaker 1: allowance and they were like, I can't live on that 1562 01:26:06,640 --> 01:26:10,040 Speaker 1: would mean seven hundred dollars a month and For me, 1563 01:26:11,160 --> 01:26:14,160 Speaker 1: it was mind boggling, right, because that's like, that's so 1564 01:26:14,280 --> 01:26:16,640 Speaker 1: much money. You can do almost anything you want with 1565 01:26:16,680 --> 01:26:19,440 Speaker 1: that amount of money. Well, it depends. And if that's 1566 01:26:19,439 --> 01:26:23,160 Speaker 1: that's after after rent, No, no, no, that's like their 1567 01:26:23,160 --> 01:26:25,719 Speaker 1: parents were paying for everything that was there, like spending 1568 01:26:25,720 --> 01:26:29,680 Speaker 1: money that they're walking around. No, that's really good. But 1569 01:26:29,720 --> 01:26:31,680 Speaker 1: I think that there are kids in this world, and 1570 01:26:31,680 --> 01:26:33,400 Speaker 1: I mean it's possible that he got to the age 1571 01:26:33,400 --> 01:26:36,000 Speaker 1: of thirty where he just like, I mean, you don't 1572 01:26:36,040 --> 01:26:38,640 Speaker 1: get fifty thou dollars in debt to the I R 1573 01:26:38,800 --> 01:26:43,320 Speaker 1: S for not spending any money, right, you don't incur 1574 01:26:43,479 --> 01:26:45,840 Speaker 1: as much debt and have as much stuff going on 1575 01:26:46,240 --> 01:26:49,800 Speaker 1: for not living large or beyond your means. So I 1576 01:26:49,840 --> 01:26:52,800 Speaker 1: think it's possible that you know, what's the it's the 1577 01:26:52,880 --> 01:26:55,320 Speaker 1: rest of development. Quote, what is it a banana? How 1578 01:26:55,400 --> 01:26:57,439 Speaker 1: much could it cost? Ten dollars? Like, I think there 1579 01:26:57,479 --> 01:27:00,200 Speaker 1: are people in this world who have no idea, and 1580 01:27:00,240 --> 01:27:02,719 Speaker 1: so seven may seem like, no, I don't, I don't 1581 01:27:02,760 --> 01:27:06,840 Speaker 1: need that amount of money, And it's entirely possible. I mean, 1582 01:27:06,880 --> 01:27:09,240 Speaker 1: I don't think that Ben showed up in Florida with 1583 01:27:09,880 --> 01:27:13,240 Speaker 1: you know, five tanks. He probably picked up tanks while 1584 01:27:13,280 --> 01:27:15,200 Speaker 1: he was there, and he may I mean there was 1585 01:27:16,040 --> 01:27:17,880 Speaker 1: Joe was t and I were talking about this earlier. 1586 01:27:17,960 --> 01:27:21,040 Speaker 1: Their standard sized tanks. It's not like he bought anything crazy, 1587 01:27:21,080 --> 01:27:23,640 Speaker 1: but tanks are cheap. No, no, no, yeah, they were 1588 01:27:23,640 --> 01:27:28,160 Speaker 1: there like tanks. He himself a set of tanks, or 1589 01:27:28,160 --> 01:27:32,200 Speaker 1: at least a set of tanks and gear. Yeah, you're right. 1590 01:27:32,400 --> 01:27:36,320 Speaker 1: It is a situation where he may not have and 1591 01:27:36,400 --> 01:27:38,599 Speaker 1: that possibly could have been what got him in trouble 1592 01:27:38,640 --> 01:27:41,240 Speaker 1: in his businesses. He didn't understand the way the world 1593 01:27:41,240 --> 01:27:45,200 Speaker 1: works when it comes to money. Entirely possible and go ahead. 1594 01:27:45,400 --> 01:27:47,120 Speaker 1: I was just gonna say he was also doing that 1595 01:27:47,400 --> 01:27:50,280 Speaker 1: real estate thing, and well he started out in construction 1596 01:27:50,320 --> 01:27:52,559 Speaker 1: and he thought he could spin himself into real estates 1597 01:27:52,640 --> 01:27:54,679 Speaker 1: and but that was like it was like a pyramid scheme. 1598 01:27:54,720 --> 01:27:59,040 Speaker 1: Real estate. Also the year and also the year was 1599 01:27:59,040 --> 01:28:02,040 Speaker 1: two thousand ten is one of the real estate markets 1600 01:28:02,320 --> 01:28:05,719 Speaker 1: was really in a crapper. The thing about it is 1601 01:28:05,720 --> 01:28:08,639 Speaker 1: is the whole disappearing thing is I just don't see 1602 01:28:08,640 --> 01:28:11,439 Speaker 1: what it got him. I agree, you know, I mean 1603 01:28:11,920 --> 01:28:15,439 Speaker 1: the negatives are well, the positives are basically nothing possible. 1604 01:28:16,200 --> 01:28:19,640 Speaker 1: The positive are you're out from underneath the thumb of 1605 01:28:19,720 --> 01:28:22,599 Speaker 1: mom and dad and you are free of them. Who. Yeah, 1606 01:28:22,640 --> 01:28:24,800 Speaker 1: but you don't need to disappear to do that. Well, 1607 01:28:24,800 --> 01:28:26,559 Speaker 1: you might need to disappear to get rid of your 1608 01:28:26,560 --> 01:28:29,360 Speaker 1: fifty dollars worth of debt to the I R S. Yeah, 1609 01:28:29,400 --> 01:28:32,200 Speaker 1: I did hear. I did hear one rumor online at 1610 01:28:32,200 --> 01:28:35,760 Speaker 1: the fifty grand had actually been paid off. I've never 1611 01:28:35,840 --> 01:28:38,600 Speaker 1: seen that. I'm not I'm not sing I did see that. 1612 01:28:38,720 --> 01:28:40,280 Speaker 1: I did see that, But you know, I could be 1613 01:28:40,280 --> 01:28:43,320 Speaker 1: wrong about that. But you know, maybe his parents paid 1614 01:28:43,360 --> 01:28:45,080 Speaker 1: it off and they just said, hey, you know, some 1615 01:28:45,240 --> 01:28:48,280 Speaker 1: whenever you're whenever you're rack back in money, whenever you're 1616 01:28:48,320 --> 01:28:49,880 Speaker 1: back in the money and you've got a lot of money, 1617 01:28:49,880 --> 01:28:52,080 Speaker 1: you can pay us back. Please please do it. Otherwise 1618 01:28:52,080 --> 01:28:53,840 Speaker 1: we'll just take it out of your inheritance or something 1619 01:28:53,840 --> 01:28:55,519 Speaker 1: like that. Yeah, I mean it could have been something 1620 01:28:55,560 --> 01:28:57,880 Speaker 1: like that. I wish you had inherit. I mean, no 1621 01:28:58,000 --> 01:29:00,320 Speaker 1: doubt me too. Yeah. And the thing of hot it 1622 01:29:00,400 --> 01:29:02,439 Speaker 1: is is, I mean he was walking away from some 1623 01:29:02,479 --> 01:29:03,880 Speaker 1: good stuff. I mean he had a dog, he had 1624 01:29:03,920 --> 01:29:07,639 Speaker 1: a he had a girlfriend, and and I've seen I've 1625 01:29:07,680 --> 01:29:10,080 Speaker 1: seen stuff on the webs on the web about how, 1626 01:29:10,280 --> 01:29:12,559 Speaker 1: oh my god, his parents were horrible people. Well, I don't. 1627 01:29:12,600 --> 01:29:14,479 Speaker 1: I don't think they were. I don't think they worry either, 1628 01:29:14,800 --> 01:29:17,320 Speaker 1: and I don't. For me, my biggest drawback on the 1629 01:29:17,360 --> 01:29:21,679 Speaker 1: Walking Away from Life is to see how Paul's death 1630 01:29:21,760 --> 01:29:24,599 Speaker 1: affected his family and to know that I don't think 1631 01:29:24,640 --> 01:29:27,960 Speaker 1: that Ben was like a horrible guy. And I can't 1632 01:29:28,000 --> 01:29:30,920 Speaker 1: imagine even if you didn't really care that much about 1633 01:29:30,920 --> 01:29:35,200 Speaker 1: your family, putting your family through something like that. Absolutely. Yeah, 1634 01:29:35,400 --> 01:29:38,679 Speaker 1: well that's my biggest Okay, so the things that I 1635 01:29:38,720 --> 01:29:41,360 Speaker 1: see that could and I'm going to do this and 1636 01:29:41,360 --> 01:29:45,720 Speaker 1: then let's let's finish. The theory is that his if 1637 01:29:45,800 --> 01:29:48,720 Speaker 1: he believed his brother had died of a stroke, or 1638 01:29:49,240 --> 01:29:51,479 Speaker 1: knew that his brother didn't actually die of a stroke, 1639 01:29:51,520 --> 01:29:54,640 Speaker 1: but his parents put up this front that said it 1640 01:29:54,680 --> 01:29:56,679 Speaker 1: was a stroke and we're gonna do all this stuff 1641 01:29:56,720 --> 01:29:58,519 Speaker 1: and by way, by the way, you're gonna be the 1642 01:29:58,560 --> 01:30:02,160 Speaker 1: front man of that organ ization, he may have kind 1643 01:30:02,200 --> 01:30:05,599 Speaker 1: of just got sick of it. I can't take this anymore. 1644 01:30:06,320 --> 01:30:09,360 Speaker 1: The other thing that may have driven it driven him 1645 01:30:09,400 --> 01:30:12,720 Speaker 1: to that was he had not too long before he disappeared, 1646 01:30:12,760 --> 01:30:15,519 Speaker 1: gone home. And one of the things that you see 1647 01:30:15,520 --> 01:30:17,960 Speaker 1: in Ben's vortex is you You go through the house, 1648 01:30:18,840 --> 01:30:22,559 Speaker 1: and I would call it a shrine. There is a 1649 01:30:22,680 --> 01:30:28,360 Speaker 1: shrine to Paul in a single room. It is nothing 1650 01:30:28,439 --> 01:30:31,200 Speaker 1: but Paul. Same thing now for Ben. And they got 1651 01:30:31,200 --> 01:30:33,000 Speaker 1: a house big enough that they have an entire room 1652 01:30:33,080 --> 01:30:38,920 Speaker 1: dedicated to this one person, to himself. Well, but he 1653 01:30:38,960 --> 01:30:41,400 Speaker 1: may have I mean, it may have been the situation 1654 01:30:41,479 --> 01:30:43,840 Speaker 1: where he had to walk, you know, his parents and 1655 01:30:43,880 --> 01:30:45,680 Speaker 1: go visit Paul, and he had to go in there 1656 01:30:45,680 --> 01:30:47,559 Speaker 1: and he just feels, you know, it feels like he's 1657 01:30:47,600 --> 01:30:52,000 Speaker 1: betraying the truth and just so sick and so fed up. 1658 01:30:52,400 --> 01:30:54,479 Speaker 1: And I mean, I know people get that way. And 1659 01:30:55,040 --> 01:30:57,599 Speaker 1: it may have been that he said, I'm gonna hatch 1660 01:30:57,640 --> 01:31:00,360 Speaker 1: this cocka baby plan and I'm getting the hell out 1661 01:31:00,360 --> 01:31:02,960 Speaker 1: of Dodge and I never have to see you people 1662 01:31:02,960 --> 01:31:05,759 Speaker 1: again because your liars and I can't take it anymore 1663 01:31:08,240 --> 01:31:14,800 Speaker 1: making this up. I think that probably he might have 1664 01:31:14,840 --> 01:31:17,479 Speaker 1: been totally on board with the whole thing about about 1665 01:31:17,520 --> 01:31:21,040 Speaker 1: hushing up, the whole overdose thing. What's Joe, what's your 1666 01:31:21,040 --> 01:31:24,439 Speaker 1: favorite theory? My favorite theory is that somebody killed him 1667 01:31:24,439 --> 01:31:25,840 Speaker 1: and made it look like he died on a dive. 1668 01:31:27,040 --> 01:31:30,800 Speaker 1: I think he's in a crevice somewhere. I'm tied. I'm 1669 01:31:31,680 --> 01:31:34,680 Speaker 1: that he's in the cave. I am seventy percent that 1670 01:31:34,760 --> 01:31:38,120 Speaker 1: he is not in the cave. And I believe that 1671 01:31:38,320 --> 01:31:44,800 Speaker 1: of that set is Lowell Kelly is involved. I don't 1672 01:31:44,840 --> 01:31:47,040 Speaker 1: know how. I don't know where he's at, but I don't. 1673 01:31:47,080 --> 01:31:49,280 Speaker 1: I really, I don't believe he's in there. I would 1674 01:31:49,320 --> 01:31:53,200 Speaker 1: say low Kelly in my mind is like involved, but 1675 01:31:53,240 --> 01:31:56,000 Speaker 1: I think he probably is just in the cave. Okay, 1676 01:31:56,080 --> 01:31:59,240 Speaker 1: it's interesting, are all three different? Yeah, I don't think 1677 01:31:59,280 --> 01:32:02,160 Speaker 1: Lowell Kelly would be involved. Again, because you don't crap 1678 01:32:02,160 --> 01:32:06,000 Speaker 1: in your own nest um. He could be looking at chicken. Yeah, 1679 01:32:06,040 --> 01:32:09,519 Speaker 1: I mean, given the fact that there is evidence that 1680 01:32:10,160 --> 01:32:12,799 Speaker 1: you know, I mean cars parked there, he left tanks behind. 1681 01:32:13,320 --> 01:32:17,160 Speaker 1: There's it looks like maybe he drowned in the cave. Lawsuit, 1682 01:32:18,000 --> 01:32:20,960 Speaker 1: you know, I mean seriously, and so or if it's murder, 1683 01:32:21,040 --> 01:32:23,240 Speaker 1: it's not a lawsuit. They have to sign a waiver. Well, 1684 01:32:23,240 --> 01:32:25,519 Speaker 1: there's that, but waivers. Waivers can always be broken by 1685 01:32:25,600 --> 01:32:29,080 Speaker 1: the wouldn't have signed a waiver? Yeah, Ben wasn't allowed 1686 01:32:29,280 --> 01:32:31,760 Speaker 1: to go in the cave. Yeah, it wasn't. Yeah, And 1687 01:32:31,840 --> 01:32:35,800 Speaker 1: so there hasn't been a law suit against them because 1688 01:32:35,800 --> 01:32:37,719 Speaker 1: there's no body to prove that he died in the cave. 1689 01:32:38,479 --> 01:32:40,360 Speaker 1: That's why I think that that he's not in the cave, 1690 01:32:40,400 --> 01:32:43,000 Speaker 1: and I think Lolls involved. I think he died. This 1691 01:32:43,240 --> 01:32:46,760 Speaker 1: jerk went in there and never sign a waiver. Yeah, 1692 01:32:46,760 --> 01:32:49,760 Speaker 1: you're gonna get the pantsuit off of me. Yeah, exactly. 1693 01:32:49,800 --> 01:32:53,519 Speaker 1: But so he disposed of the body, but he didn't 1694 01:32:53,560 --> 01:32:56,439 Speaker 1: dispose of the tanks in the truck. Again, I'm sorry, 1695 01:32:58,680 --> 01:33:02,320 Speaker 1: we're laboring the crow about of this all right. So 1696 01:33:02,360 --> 01:33:05,599 Speaker 1: at this point we have gone over this story quite 1697 01:33:05,600 --> 01:33:10,679 Speaker 1: a lot if you if you want to read any 1698 01:33:10,720 --> 01:33:13,519 Speaker 1: more about it, we will have links to it on 1699 01:33:13,560 --> 01:33:18,240 Speaker 1: our website website of course Thinking Sideways podcast dot com. 1700 01:33:18,479 --> 01:33:20,759 Speaker 1: On the link there you can listen to the show. 1701 01:33:20,840 --> 01:33:24,400 Speaker 1: You can download or stream it. We will also have 1702 01:33:24,520 --> 01:33:27,280 Speaker 1: there on the website on the right hand side, there 1703 01:33:27,479 --> 01:33:29,479 Speaker 1: is going to be links to merch so we have 1704 01:33:29,560 --> 01:33:33,559 Speaker 1: merchandise available if you want. We also have options to 1705 01:33:33,720 --> 01:33:36,880 Speaker 1: support the show if you're so inclined. We have the 1706 01:33:36,920 --> 01:33:41,240 Speaker 1: PayPal for a one time donation option or links to Patreon, 1707 01:33:41,320 --> 01:33:45,240 Speaker 1: which is patreon dot com slash Thinking Sideways Patreon is 1708 01:33:45,280 --> 01:33:48,599 Speaker 1: a sustaining donation. It's a it's a per episode donation. 1709 01:33:48,920 --> 01:33:51,519 Speaker 1: However much you're comfortable with, or if you're not with, 1710 01:33:52,200 --> 01:33:55,719 Speaker 1: we get it, so it's totally voluntary. We love everybody 1711 01:33:55,720 --> 01:33:59,080 Speaker 1: who is currently using Patreon. Thank you so much. It 1712 01:33:59,160 --> 01:34:02,400 Speaker 1: is a massive but it is not a requirement. So 1713 01:34:03,120 --> 01:34:07,280 Speaker 1: we also have the ability to be listened to and downloaded, 1714 01:34:07,360 --> 01:34:10,400 Speaker 1: and a lot of people do. This is through iTunes. 1715 01:34:10,920 --> 01:34:13,320 Speaker 1: If you're on iTunes, please do take the time to 1716 01:34:13,400 --> 01:34:16,400 Speaker 1: leave a comment and a rating, a nice rating. If 1717 01:34:16,400 --> 01:34:20,040 Speaker 1: you've got an objection with something specific about the show. 1718 01:34:20,840 --> 01:34:22,519 Speaker 1: We would much rather that you get a hold of 1719 01:34:22,600 --> 01:34:25,000 Speaker 1: us by emails so that we can talk about it, 1720 01:34:25,120 --> 01:34:26,600 Speaker 1: because we can't really talk to you when you just 1721 01:34:26,680 --> 01:34:29,400 Speaker 1: leave a random comment on iTunes. If you want to 1722 01:34:29,439 --> 01:34:31,240 Speaker 1: do that though, and get a hold of us, you 1723 01:34:31,240 --> 01:34:33,799 Speaker 1: can send us the email. The email address is Thinking 1724 01:34:33,840 --> 01:34:38,360 Speaker 1: Sideways Podcast at gmail dot com. We are available to 1725 01:34:38,640 --> 01:34:42,400 Speaker 1: stream as well as iTunes. People are streaming us on 1726 01:34:42,439 --> 01:34:45,200 Speaker 1: so many websites. We can get in tons of emails. Yeah, 1727 01:34:45,320 --> 01:34:48,720 Speaker 1: they're they're all over the place. We're also on the 1728 01:34:48,800 --> 01:34:53,120 Speaker 1: social media, so we have the Twitter account two the 1729 01:34:53,120 --> 01:34:56,800 Speaker 1: Twitter and the Facebook so Twitter is thinking sideways without 1730 01:34:56,840 --> 01:34:59,559 Speaker 1: the G in the middle. And for Facebook, we have 1731 01:34:59,640 --> 01:35:02,320 Speaker 1: the face book page and the Facebook group, so you 1732 01:35:02,360 --> 01:35:06,040 Speaker 1: can follow the page or like the page and then 1733 01:35:06,360 --> 01:35:10,120 Speaker 1: join the group because there's always conversations about episodes that 1734 01:35:10,160 --> 01:35:12,160 Speaker 1: we've talked about, as well as all kinds of other 1735 01:35:12,280 --> 01:35:14,920 Speaker 1: random mystery stuff on there. Well, I love it, that 1736 01:35:15,479 --> 01:35:18,400 Speaker 1: was it? Who was it? Frederick gasoline, plus of the 1737 01:35:18,439 --> 01:35:27,200 Speaker 1: comment on it today your yeah Frederick challenge. There's always 1738 01:35:27,240 --> 01:35:29,280 Speaker 1: some really fun stuff going on in the group. It's 1739 01:35:29,320 --> 01:35:31,599 Speaker 1: a good group of people. Yeah, And the only thing 1740 01:35:31,640 --> 01:35:33,880 Speaker 1: I haven't talked about yet is that we do also 1741 01:35:33,920 --> 01:35:37,040 Speaker 1: have a subreddit. So the subreddit is there. People are 1742 01:35:37,040 --> 01:35:40,120 Speaker 1: slowly but surely joining up, so you can join that 1743 01:35:40,160 --> 01:35:43,360 Speaker 1: if you'd like to talk about episodes in there, and 1744 01:35:43,720 --> 01:35:47,439 Speaker 1: you two have any other things that we've missed and 1745 01:35:47,800 --> 01:35:49,920 Speaker 1: talk about. He's not in the cave. That's about it. 1746 01:35:50,200 --> 01:35:52,720 Speaker 1: He's in the cave. Not in the cave. He's in 1747 01:35:52,720 --> 01:36:03,360 Speaker 1: the cave. Yeah he is, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Kay Bye.