Scott C. Barlow drowned searching for Carthel R. Coffey in an underwater cave, Live Oak, Florida, May 24, 1971. Cave diving together, Barlow, 20, college student, and Coffey, 56, aircraft mechanic, entered the first of several generally vertical shafts leading to an underwater chamber 60 feet below the surface. While they were swimming through the cave with the intention of surfacing by way of another shaft, the light they had with them failed, leaving them in total darkness. Barlow returned to the first shaft and surfaced, unaware that Coffey was continuing through the cave to the second shaft. When Coffey did not immediately appear, Barlow borrowed a rubber-encased flashlight from a man at the scene and prepared to re-enter the cave. He said that although he did not know how much air he had left, he was going to get Coffey because the latter probably had become lost. Barlow reentered the water and descended to the cave. Coffey surfaced in the second shaft and climbed out, his air tank by then empty. Barlow did not reappear. Other divers were summoned; and Barlow’s body was recovered from the cave.
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