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Recovery Photos These are actual pictures taken during SMART dive recovery operations listed in chronological order. Some photos are graphic and may not be suitable for viewing by children. * Viewer discretion advised * Click image to see larger view.
January 22, 2005 -
SMART Divers find and recover a 1994 Jeep Cherokee which was washed
away from a low water crossing on the Blanco River in October of
2004 during a flash flood near Wimberley, Texas. Pictures: 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.
Pictures:
Video:
July 5, 2004 - SMART
recovered the body of 41 year old man from the
Photos:
June 13, 2004
-
SMART responded to the area between
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. Divers in the water
pictured below are Ian Rosen, Mark Welch, and Dan Misiaszek. 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.
Photos: Video: 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
to locate the boat, SMART divers were unable to locate.
August 3, 2002 - SMART is called to locate a missing 16 year old
swimmer who jumped off a dam into strong overflowing hydraulic
currents. Expecting to recover the body of 16 year old Dustin
Kilgore under the Cumming Dam in Hays County, recovery divers
instead found Dustin ALIVE and rescued him from an air compartment
behind the dam. The recovery turned into a underwater scuba rescue
which received nationwide media attention. See the April 2003 issue
of Readers Digest for a feature on this event.
July 21, 2002 - Under increasing
pressure from residents and local businesses to re-open the Comal
River to recreational activities after the July 4th flood, the City
of New Braunfels calls SMART to survey a 1-1/2 miles stretch of the
river for underwater debris. "The city officials wanted to make sure
the underwater area was free of large debris that could present an
entanglement hazard to swimmers and tubers.". SMART Divers spent
three hours in the water searching and video taped the riverbed
while city officials with the Parks & Recreation Department watched
on topside monitors. SMART removed some branches, broken PVC pipe,
two lawn chairs, a broken mirror, and waterbed mattress from the
area. Photo:
July 11, 2002 -
The US Army Corp of
Engineers at Canyon Lake call upon SMART to survey and inspect the
flue area of the controlled release gates below the dam after the
worst flooding in 45 years where water went over the spillway at the
dam. This hydraulic action of the spillway combined with water
being released from the flue cause a collapse of the rock and earth
around the flue. April 30, 2002 - **UPDATE In one of SMART's most successful dive operations to date, divers recovered a chrome .357 magnum from lake Braunig, a weapon which is believed to have been used in a recent capital murder at a Sac & Pac convenience store in San Antonio on April 21st. San Antonio Police homicide detectives contacted SMART to search an area of Lake Braunig in South East San Antonio off a pier where there investigation led them to believe the murder weapon had been discarded. Using underwater communications, video, and a metal detector, divers discovered the handgun in 15 feet of water, and 87 feet from the end of the dock. The search took 67 minutes before the chrome .357 handgun was found, preserved, and recovered. "This is one of our most successful operations ever. We combined infrared video technology, an underwater metal detector, and a standard search pattern in water as dark as chocolate milk. Visibility was absolute zero. We were able to find the needle in the hay stack and successfully recover a weapon used in a capital murder. The success of this operation speaks very highly of the dive team and its membership. San Antonio police detectives were very pleased with the find and recovery and further stated that a warrant for capital murder on the suspect is imminent.
After the weapon was found, SMART
divers marked the location with a floating marker while an evidence
technician from the San Antonio police took pictures and
measurements from the pier to the exact location of the gun. The
gun was then sealed with the barrel positioned up in a water tight
container and brought to the surface. Sealing the weapon in a water
tight container prevents rust, preserves trace evidence, and reduces
deterioration of the weapon if it had immediately exposed to air.
"The weapon will be brought to a crime lab still sealed in the
container where it will be removed and rapidly dried. The evidence
technician will then process the gun for fingerprints and conduct
ballistic testing. It is a common myth that finger prints, barrel
contents, and gun powder residue are washed away in the water. This
simply is not true. With proper handling and drying in a crime
lab, physical evidence can still be recovered from the
gun. 2002-0430-05
March 7, 2002 - A fully loaded
construction trailer being towed by a truck on Loop 337 in New
Braunfels, flips off a 50 foot bridge during high winds and lands in
the Guadalupe River below. The trailer is quickly recovered and
SMART is called to recovery the trailer contents. Diving in 7 to 14
feet of water, divers recover tools, sheet metal screws, spools of
wire, a ladder, and 40 metal sign panels sized 2 feet X 14 Feet
each. 2002-0307-03.
February 22, 2002
- SMART Divers search for and recover the body of Joseph P.
Bustamante in Canyon Lake near Comal Park.
On February
20th, Bustamante and his friends Susan Gerardo
and Daniel and Fernando Reyna, all in their 20s, were boating when a
cold front blew through and lashed the lake with choppy waves
whipped up by 45 mph winds. The boat capsized in the middle of
Canyon lake, and the four clung to it, intending to ride with it as
the wind blew the boat to shore. Bustamante was the only one of the
three who was unable to swim to shore in the chilling cold water.
His body was found in 35 feet of water at 11:23am on the 22nd.
August, 2001 - Photo of the
Recovery Diver wearing a full face mask with underwater
communications, high visibility dry suit for contaminated water
conditions, and head gear mounted underwater infrared live feed
video camera. This was part of training for a
World Record SCUBA Dive.
May 3, 2001 - A 1995 Ford Mustang
is recovered from the Guadalupe River in Seguin 6 days after the
teenage driver failed to properly set the parking brake.
April 1, 2001 - Divers search for
the body of 32 year Thomas Daugherty reported missing at the
Martindale Dam in Guadalupe County. The body was found almost 2
miles downstream after a 6 hour search.
February 25, 2001 -SMART Divers
repair the Rio Vista Dam by using a special quick dry cement.
Divers built a temporary dam to divert water away from the main
chute while repairs were made.
September 4, 2000 - The discovery
of a green 4 wheeler submerged in the San Marcos River near Luling
led divers to the submerged body of an 18 year old Luling resident
who was reported missing the night before. He was recovered 60 feet
downstream from the 4 wheeler in 15 feet of water.
Team photograph taken on December
4, 1999 under the Loop 360 Pennybaker bridge in Austin. Divers had
just finished searching for a missing student in the Colorado
River. Left to right - Matt Verber, Kathy Misiaszek, Daniel
Misiaszek, Jody Ginn, Leslie Ginn, Wade Parham, and Don White.
December 4, 1999- Preparing to
launch the dive boat to search for a missing student under the Loop
360 Pennybaker bridge in Austin. It was later determined that the
boy committed suicide by jumping off the bridge, but fell short of
the water.
October 16, 1999 - Team members
"count up the loot" by separating shoes, bottles, and cans during
the San Marcos River Clean-Up. SMART received awards for the most
shoes (24) and the most bottles collected (307).
August 4, 1999 - SMART members
gather for a pre-dive briefing at the dive truck with the San Marcos
police after a 10 year old boy reports seeing a "severed human leg"
in the river at City Park.
May 4, 1999 - Divers set up
surface supplied air to recover stolen police radios that were
dumped into the Blanco River at 5 mile dam, Hays County. Four
police radios were recovered and San Marcos PD detectives arrested
one suspect.
October 21, 1998 SMART at the scene
of a double drowning on CR227 in Caldwell County following the
massive flooding in central Texas. Divers recovered the body of an
11 year old girl inside a suburban below 27 feet of water at this
rain swollen low water crossing. Her 6 year old male friend was
recovered the following day after being spotted by searchers in an
aircraft.
August 17, 1998 -Divers recover and
wrap the body of an 18 year old trade school student from the Blanco
River in San Marcos. Later autopsy determined the student had a
high level of illegal drugs in his system and death was due to
drowning.
March 28, 1998 - SMART sets a
record by collecting 432 bottles and a trailer full of trash at the
17th annual San Marcos River Clean-up. This is a semi-annual event
that you can participate in. Contact the City of San Marcos Parks
& Recreation division for further information.
June 30, 1997 - A 1997 Suzuki Swift
submerged in Cypress Creek, Wimberley. This was the last of 21
vehicles that were swept away in the river during a flash flood.
The vehicle had less then 100 miles on the odometer when it was
recovered. Tons of rocks had to be removed from the interior before
the vehicle could be pulled from the water.
January 15, 1997 - Paramedic and
SMART diver John Moseley searches for a gun with an underwater metal
detector at the scene of a homicide in Hays County. The victim of
this gang hit was shot several times by a small caliber handgun
which was never found.
August 6, 1996 - A Monte Carlo
reported missing is discovered by some swimmers in the Blanco River,
Caldwell County and recovered by SMART Divers. The body of the
driver was recovery 18 months earlier several miles down river at
the same time this vehicle was reported missing. Investigation
determined the victim was forging a low water crossing during a
flash flood and was swept away downstream.
September 16, 1995 - The body of a
39 year old male is recovered from 84 feet of water in Canyon Lake,
Comal County, following a fatal nighttime swim. With no witnesses
on scene, divers found an open pack of cigarettes on shore which led
to the search area and body recovery. |
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© 2004 San Marcos Area Recovery Team |
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