“Disappearance of Tom and Eileen Lonergan” The Greatest Mystery is “Lost at Sea”

The couple known as Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who got abandoned in waters teeming with sharks by a boat, eventually became an inspiration for one of the most horrifying movies ever made.

When you try to think of the most frightening thing that might happen to someone, chances are that you will come up with something akin to the fates of Tom and Eileen Lonergan.

Even now, no one knows what happened to this American couple who had disappeared mysteriously.

But what happened to them was so terrible that it inspired an actual horror film that is just too scary…

On January 25, 1998, Tom and Eileen Lonergan went diving with a tour boat off the coast of Australia.

Unfortunately, the couple never made it back from their trip.

The expedition left from Port Douglas, Queensland on its way to St. Crispin’s reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is a well-known tourist site but it has some shark-infested waters which every diver must tread carefully at all times.

33- year old Tom was from Baton Rouge in Louisiana while Eileen was 28 years old.

The two were deemed “young idealists who loved each other dearly”.

They met at the university and later spent a year serving in Fiji under Peace Corps.

They chose Australia as the next stop on their itinerary after completing their service there.

Outer Edge scuba company provided diving services to 26 people who boarded for that purpose.

Geoffrey Nairn, who captained the boat took them out 25 miles into the sea where everyone went into the water.

Terribly enough, this is the last piece of solid knowledge anyone can share about Tom and Eileen.

Finally, approximately after 40 minutes the remaining divers came out of the water into the boat and went resultantly to skein.

Eventually someone recognized that both Tom and Eileen were missing.

It took two whole days before Nairn realized that they had still not come back after he found their bags containing their wallets organization’s documents on board.

A massive search team was launched with the Navy as well as civilian vessels; when Nairn raised an alarm.

Frustratingly, numerous things belonging to Lonergan’s began to show up along the beaches e.g., a dive slate inscribed as: “To whom it may concern, we have been abandoned on Agin court reef Reef 25 Jan 1998 03 pm. Please help us come to save before meeting our deaths Help!!!”

More terrifying though?

The couple’s cadavers were never recovered.

After this couple went missing, some disturbing notes in Eileen’s diary fueled conspiracy theories about their fate.

According to the writer, “Tom is not suicidal but the kind that has a death wish that can lead him to what he wants and I can be dragged into this.”

“He wants a quick painless death and wishes it were to happen soon,” writes the author.

Eventually, an inquest was held, with coroner Noel Nunan concluding that Nairn was responsible for the tragedy.

Nunan said: “The skipper should be vigilant for the safety of passengers and ensure safety measures are carried out.”

“When you bring together the number of errors and how serious they are – I believe a reasonable jury would find Mr Nairn guilty of manslaughter beyond reasonable doubt,” he stated.

Nairn got acquitted by the jury but his company Outer Edge Boat Company collapsed after the scandal as reported by The Guardian.

In Queensland there was change in law regarding diving boat skippers and headcounts to divers who come onboard causing Daily Express to make a report about it enforcing them into it.

The petrifying 2003 horror film Open Water which currently has a fresh rating of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes was inspired by this couple’s disappearance.