Missing diver found dead near the Vandenberg wreck off Key West, police say
The body of a 50-year-old Texas woman was found Wednesday morning, a day after she disappeared while diving the Vandenberg wreck off Key West, police said.
Jordan Fisher was found around 10:30 a.m., not far from the wreck on the bottom of the seafloor, by divers with the Sea Eagle Dive Boat out of Key West, said Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Adam Linhardt.
Her body was taken by the U.S. Coast Guard to Coast Guard Station Key West, he said.
Fisher, of Rockport, Texas, disappeared Tuesday morning while diving the Vandenberg. A search was launched.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Coast Guard, the Army Special Forces Underwater Operations School and the sheriff’s office dive team searched for Fisher after the call came in at about 10 a.m. Tuesday.
FWC and the U.S Coast Guard were back out Wednesday morning searching for Jordan Fisher, Linhardt said.
“Foul play is not expected to be a factor in the incident,” Linhardt said.
Fisher was with her husband on the boat Emerald See along with two other people and a dive master, Linhardt said.
The dive master signaled for everyone to surface but members of the group lost sight of Fisher while returning to the mooring line.
“The dive master stated he made several searches around the wreck until he was short on air,” Linhardt said.
FWC spokesman Officer Robert Dube said the Emerald See is a 40-foot vessel run by Dive Key West.
The 523-foot Vandenberg, a decommissioned military missile-tracking ship named after Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, was intentionally sunk in May 2009 about seven miles off Key West and acts as an artificial reef.
It rests in nearly 150 feet of water in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, according to the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 9:54 PM.
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