Thomas Joseph Lonergan and Eileen Cassidy Lonergan were a married American couple who were mistakenly stranded in the Coral Sea off Australia's northeast coast on January 25, 1998, during a group scuba diving trip on MV Outer Edge. Their absences were not noted by the boat crew until two days later on January 27 and while search efforts resulted in the discovery of personal effects presumed to be those of the Lonergans, they did not lead to their discovery. Their whereabouts are unknown, though both are presumed deceased. The couple's disappearance and deaths resulted in "a crisis of confidence in north Queensland's dive industry" and resulted in tighter mandatory safety regulations for diving boats in Australia. Their disappearances also served as the inspiration for the 2003 film Open Water.
On January 25, 1998, the Lonergans were scuba diving with a group at St. Crispin's Reef in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The boat transporting the group to the dive site departed before the Lonergans returned from the water. None of the vessel's crew or passengers noticed the two had not come back aboard. At the time of the incident, the couple had recently completed a two-year tour of duty with the Peace Corps at Funafuti atoll in the small South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu and were repeating that work in Fiji.
Aftermath
The pair was not discovered missing until two days later, on January 27, 1998, after a bag containing their belongings was found on board the dive boat. A massive air and sea search took place over the following three days. In February 1998, a women's wetsuit matching Eileen's size washed ashore in north Queensland. Upon examination of barnacle growth on the wetsuit, it was determined it had likely been submerged in the ocean since January. It also bore tears along buttock and armpit area, presumed by examiners to have resulted from coming in contact with coral. Six months after the disappearance, in June 1998, more of the couple's diving gear was found washed up on a Port Douglas beach approximately from where they were lost. Among these items were inflatable dive jackets marked with the Lonergans' names, along with their compressed air tanks and one of Eileen's fins. Also recovered was a weathered diver's slate which reportedly read: "Monday Jan 26; 1998 08am. To anyone who can help us: We have been abandoned on Acourt Reef by MV Outer Edge 25 Jan 1998 3pm. Please help to rescue us before we die. Help!!!"
Suspicions
Several theories were suggested surrounding their disappearance. At the time, it was suggested that the Lonergans might have staged their disappearance. However, the Lonergans' bank accounts were never touched and their insurance policies were not claimed. Another theory suggested that the pair committed suicide, or murder–suicide. This theory was bolstered by entries found in both victims' diaries. Excerpts from Tom's personal diary were used to portray a deeply disturbed man who was looking for a "quick and peaceful" death. Eileen's writings had expressed concern for her well-being, given Tom's "death wish". She had openly chosen to stay with Tom, no matter the outcome. However, the diary entries were taken out of context, according to Eileen's parents and family members. The family, the coroner Noel Nunan, and the Port Douglas police claim that only pages that would validate the suicide theory were leaked to the press, whereas the majority of the diaries remain unread except by the coroner, Port Douglas police, and the Hains family. Eileen's father, John Hains, later said that he suspects the couple ultimately became dehydrated and disoriented and in the end succumbed to drowning or sharks. During the inquest on the deaths, experts speculated that, based on the state of the gear recovered, the couple had not likely experienced an animal attack, but rather succumbed to delirium resulting from dehydration, which caused them to voluntarily remove their diving outfits. Without the buoyancy provided by their gear, experts testified the couple would have been unable to tread water for long, and would have soon drowned. The coroner dismissed suggestions that the Lonergans had either committed suicide or faked their own disappearance, and formally charged Geoffrey Ian "Jack" Nairn, skipper of the dive boat, with their unlawful killing. He was later found not guilty, but his company, Outer Edge Dive, was fined after pleading guilty to negligence and went out of business. Queensland's government also introduced stiffer regulations, among which was the requirement that captains and dive masters independently confirm each head count.
Media
The 2003 movie Open Water claims to be based on the Lonergans' disappearance. In the film, all names are changed, but there is a strong resemblance to the Lonergans' story. The documentary Crime Stories: Deep Secret also featured the story of the Lonergans. Their disappearances were referenced in a game titled Stranded Deep, in which a diver's slate can be found with an exact copy of the message that was on the real slate recovered during the Search and Rescue mission. Their disappearance is detailed in the podcast, Casefile True Crime Podcast in the episode Case 133: Tom & Eileen Lonergan.
