2004 Dive Log

2002 Dive Log
2003 Dive Log
2005 Dive Log

2004 Dive Log

September 18, 2004 Divers with the San Marcos Area Recovery Team (SMART) recovered the body of 19 year old William Charles Franklin off the shores of Comal Park on Canyon Lake late Saturday night. Franklin, who has a last known address in California and family in San Antonio, was swimming with friends at Comal Park between the two Islands near an area commonly referred to as ”The Point”. According to witnesses, Franklin was swimming between the islands at approximately 6:15pm, when he began calling for help and thrashing in the water. Two friends attempted a rescue but were unable to keep Franklin above the water. The Comal County Sheriff’s Department was called at 6:31pm and SMART was notified shortly after. After arriving on scene and interviewing witnesses, SMART put two divers in the water at 9PM. Both divers carried high intensity discharge lights to conduct the underwater search. Divers located Franklin in 23 feet of water, 50 yards from shore, at 9:09pm, only 9 minutes after the search began. SMART was assisted by the Comal County Sheriff’s Department, Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens, Canyon Lake Fire Department, and the US Army Corp of Engineers.

September 4, 2004 - When two 16 year old youths attempt to cross the Blanco River in the City of Blanco between 5th Street and River Road, one of the youths calls for help in the middle of the river. The second youth tries unsuccessfully to save his friend. SMART is called in at 6:25PM and finds the body of David Henry Willhoite within two hours in 7 feet of water, and 100 feet from shore.

July 28, 2004 - SMART was called to the Blanco River near the Blanco State Park to recover physical evidence that was thrown into the river by a robbery suspect. Details of this operation are not for public release pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.

July 12-13, 2004 - SMART was called on July 13th to look for a 19 year old male who had been swimming in the Guadalupe River over to friends near a rope swing. The water was moving to swiftly for any type of operation on the first night as the water from the dam was moving at almost 5,000 cubic feet a second out of the Canyon Dam. The Army Corp of Engineers turned down the flow to just under 200 cubic feet a second to help the team in our recovery operation. The second day Star Flight out of Austin came to search the river, and two K-9 dog teams trained on human scent were used on the banks of the river and on boats to try and locate the victim. Divers made several attempts to locate the victim, but operations were called off after an exhausting day of searching. See Video

July 5, 2004 - SMART recovered the body of 41 year old man from the Blanco River after the man was pulled under the low water crossing bridge at Blanco State Park. The victim was paddling an inflatable raft when he was pulled under the roadway in a siphon and did not surface on the down river side of the road. His wife was also pulled under the roadway but managed to surface down river and was assisted to shore by witnesses. For the first time at a recovery SMART used a new K-9 cadaver dog named “Bok”, a German Shepard trained on human scent. Divers were in the water for 47 minutes before the recovery was made in 5 feet of water, 212 feet down river from the low water crossing. SMART put three divers in the water to search supported by eight topside personnel with the South Hays Fire Department. See Photos

June 27, 2004 - SMART was requested by officials in Mexico through the National Park Service in Del Rio, TX to a town 20 miles across the Mexico border to recover a 6 year old child who had drowned. While responding, SMART was cancelled due family members finding the victim while they were free diving into the water. This was the SMART team's first out of country response.

June 13, 2004 - SMART responded to the area between Vetter Park and Dudley Johnson Park off Stage Coach road near Kyle to search for a missing swimmer at a popular park, which is more commonly referred to as Five Mile Dam. According to witnesses, the victim was swimming in the rapids and was pulled downstream before disappearing below the water. SMART initially put 3 divers in the water performing diagonal patterns from shore line to shore line when the Kyle Fire Chief saw the body in an eddy near shore. Divers were directed to the area and the victim was recovered in 8 feet of water, 20 feet from shore, and 350 feet down stream from where he originally went into the water. See Photos.

June 12, 2004 - Divers from the San Marcos Area Recovery Team were called to the WOODCREEK I Golf Course in Wimberley, Texas to recover a 2003 VW Jetta from a pond. The owner of the Jetta forgot to set the parking brake and the Jetta rolled off a 40 foot cliff into 12 feet of water. SMART divers spent about two hours in the water on Saturday evening recovering the vehicle. See Photos.

May 29-30, 2004 - A 54 year old San Antonio man walking to a small island off of Comal Park in Canyon Lake unknowingly steps off a steep underwater shelf that has depths of up to 115 feet. The victim was not wearing a life jacket, and could not swim well. SMART divers were called out Saturday night to the location. A single dive was completed that night, and operations stopped until the next day. Sunday morning the dive team regrouped and utilized the STAR Flight helicopter for assisting in a search. On the second dive of the day, SMART divers found the victim in 24 feet of water about 150 feet off shore. See Photos.

April 9, 2004 - SMART is called to try and recover a 16 foot fishing boat near the Cypress Cove Boat Ramp at Canyon Lake that had sunk 3 weeks prior. The owner of the boat accidentally forgot to replace the drain plugs before its use, and the boat sank. The owner of the boat was rescued by nearby fishermen that had a kayak. After several attempts, SMART divers were unable to locate the boat. See Photos.