In a nightmare moment a keen scuba-diving couple were left alone in shark-infested waters and the boat skipper who left them behind would only realise they were missing two days later. Experienced divers Tom and Eileen Lonergan were on a trip of a lifetime to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. 

On January 25, 1998, the couple decided to take a scuba diving charter boat so they could witness the natural wonder teeming with other 1,500 species of marine life, including reef and tiger sharks. The excited pair travelled from Cairns, in Queensland, for around an hour to Port Douglas to catch their boat, the MV Outer Edge, skippered by Geoffrey “Jack” Nairn.

For Tom, 33, and Eileen, 28, the day must have started as an exciting adventure as they joined fellow diving enthusiasts for the journey to St Crispin’s Reef, a spectacular underwater wonderland around 35-miles off the coast. They arrived at the location around 10am. 

The couple enjoyed a stunning day of diving by all accounts, taking in the amazing underwater canyons at the reef site which would have been packed with fish and other marine life. Tom and Eileen had been married for 10 years, having first met at Louisiana University.

The pair loved outdoor adventures and both served with the US Peace Corps volunteer organisation in the Pacific islands of Tuvalu and Fiji for two years prior to their trip to Australia. The Mail Online reports, Tom told the MV Outer Edge’s diving instructor, Katherine Traverso, that he and Eileen would explore on their own as they were both experienced divers.

The paper reported the American couple’s solo adventures were never recorded in the dive logs on the boat. The logs are vital for recording how long divers have been in the water and who has dived where, they also help keep a track of who is on the boat. 

Just past 3pm the order was given to do a head count of those on board the MV Outer Edge in readiness to start the engines and head back to Port Douglas. British diver Bryan Brogdan had seen the Lonergans watching a giant clam before he returned to the vessel.

Once a head count was done, the ship began to head back to port, but crucially the head count had missed the Lonergans, with the couple still in the water.

Once back at port the alarm was not raised until 6pm on January 27, by which time the couple had been in the shark-infested waters for more than 48 hours.

Despite a massive air and sea search being carried out over three days, Tom and Eileen were never found.

The MV boat skipper Geoffrey “Jack” Nairn was cleared of any wrongdoing at a subsequent trial for manslaughter. An inquest into the couple’s disappearance pointed to the high prevalence of sharks in the area they disappeared. 

In a haunting find in June 1998, a diving slate, used by scuba divers to write messages underwater, was found on a beach. It read: “To anyone who can help us: We have been abandoned on Agincourt Reef by MV Outer Edge 25 Jan, 98, 03pm. Please help us come to rescue us before we die. Help!!!”

A diving tank and vests marked with Tom and Eileen’s names were also found on a beach near Cooktown, around 200-miles away from Port Douglas. Tears were found in the diving suits.

The disappearance of the couple led to a huge overhaul of dive safety rules in Australia. Their story is also said to be the partial inspiration for the 2003 horror film Open Water, which portrays an American couple left stranded in shark-infested waters.