Missouri man dies while scuba diving in Florida Keys, sheriff’s office says
A Missouri man died in a hospital after he was found unconscious on the ocean floor while scuba diving at a popular Florida Keys shipwreck Friday morning, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Lonnie Lee Higgins, 71, from Columbia, Missouri, was diving around 9 a.m. at the Eagle wreck off Islamorada. An instructor with a charter dive crew found him about 110 feet below the ocean surface, said Adam Linhardt, the sheriff’s office spokesman.
The instructor brought Higgins to a boat and began CPR, Linhardt said. Higgins was not a customer of the company that the instructor works for.
Crews from Coast Guard Station Islamorada arrived to take Higgins to shore to meet paramedics, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric Rodriguez, an agency spokesman.
Paramedics took Higgins to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier, where he died, Linhardt said, adding detectives do not suspect foul play and his cause of death is pending autopsy results.
The Eagle is considered an advanced dive. The 287-foot freighter was intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef in 1985.
This story has been updated to correct wrong information from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. Higgins was not diving with Conch Republic Divers. He was found by a Conch Republic Divers instructor, who brought Higgins to the surface.
This story was originally published March 13, 2026 at 5:31 PM.
