Why a civilian dive team recovered a missing diver near Digby

The RCMP wouldn't follow a fire department's underwater scans that led to the recovery of the body of a missing diver in St. Marys Bay.

The 29-year-old diver from the Municipality of Clare went missing in waters off Digby, N.S., on Aug. 30. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax led the initial search, Digby RCMP responded and multiple volunteer fire departments were on the water within hours.

"My understanding is that … he was on a dive ship, and as he was coming to the surface something happened where he ended up back under the surface and then the search began," JRCC Maj. Trevor Ackland said at the time.

Adam Levings, chief of the Brighton and Barton Volunteer Fire Department, said the underwater scanner had a potential hit in the early morning on Aug. 31, but attempts to drag the area by the coast guard were unsuccessful. 

Later that day, the RCMP underwater recovery team arrived and was informed of the firefighters' findings. 

'Nothing of interest' 

In a statement, RCMP spokesperson Allison Gerrard said the underwater recovery team conducts its own scans for safety reasons. She said the area flagged by firefighters and the area from which an initial 911 call was made were "scanned extensively." 

"Nothing of interest to this search was observed under water; therefore, divers didn't enter the Bay," Gerrard said. 

Levings said firefighters had a second hit on Sept. 4, close to where the diver went missing. 

"We were indicated that our services were no longer needed [by the underwater recovery team]. So we cleared the location and left. And the last update I heard, which would have been the next morning, was that the dive team did not dive on our co-ordinate," he said. 

Levings said a civilian dive team was formed to look at that hit as the underwater recovery team was concluding its search on Sept. 5. 

Around 1 p.m. on Sept. 6, almost a week after the diver disappeared, his body was found by a civilian diver.

Call to work together 

Levings said local knowledge was valuable to the civilian search. He would like to see the RCMP underwater recovery team train alongside fire departments as more acquire equipment for water searches. 

"Understanding that, you know, everybody brings a little bit of, you know, a little bit of knowledge to the table," he said. 

"We're looking at an underwater drone as well to be able to send that down and check the anomalies." 

Levings hopes the efforts of his department and others from as far away as Brooklyn and West Pubnico bring closure. 

"I feel for the family and the skipper for everything they've been through."