Scuba-diving brothers who also were best friends drown in an underground siphon in Lehi

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 10.3.03 | Michael N. Westley

[mhking]

Double tragedy: Scuba-diving brothers who also were best friends drown in an underground siphon in Lehi

Family and friends of Ashton and Byron Hobbs grieve after Utah County Search and Rescue recovered their bodies. The two brothers drowned Wednesday night while scuba diving inside an irrigation tunnel in Lehi. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)



Members of Utah County Search and Rescue work near a tunnel in an irrigation canal in Lehi where brothers Ashton and Byron Hobbs drowned Wednesday night while scuba diving. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)

By Michael N. Westley
The Salt Lake Tribune

    Ashton and Byron "B.J." Hobbs were brothers and best friends who family members say did everything together. On Wednesday, the brothers died together.
    Ignoring a warning from their father that a dive through the underground Dry Creek Siphon of Lehi's Murdock Canal would be dangerous, the men set off around 8 p.m. for what would be the last of their many adventures, according to Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Office.
    "They called their father and said to check on them if they weren't back in a couple of hours," Cannon said. Both of the brothers lived in Utah County.
    The siphon, which starts about two blocks south of the Micron facility in Lehi, is an irrigation tunnel which channels water across a ravine that is about 1,200 feet wide.
    The siphon allows the water to continue across changing elevations by pulling the water out the other side. The concrete tube -- 9 feet in diameter -- runs down the sides of the ravine at various angles to a depth of 96 feet and crosses the ravine floor.
    By 1 a.m. Thursday, search and rescue teams had arrived at the north end of the siphon to assess the conditions of the water and the possibilities of a rescue. None of the divers, some with more than 20 years experience, were willing to enter the siphon until it was drained. The water at that time had about three feet of visibility and was about 60 degrees, according to search and rescue member Kevin Dickerson.
    After taking more than eight hours to drain, search crews entered the empty siphon around 10 a.m. and found the bodies of Ashton, 23, and B.J., 21, several hundred feet from the entrance and about 150 feet apart from each other, Dickerson said, noting that their gear appeared to be older.
    "To do this safely, you would have to have a complete back-up system," said Chris Reed of Utah County Search and Rescue. Reed said the brothers' dive would classify as a cave dive requiring two sets of breathing equipment for each diver, extra lighting and a rope system to use as a guide.
    There were no immediate clues as to why the men did not make it out of the siphon, police said. The bodies were sent to the Salt Lake Medical Examiner's Office.
    Cannon said that although there is a grate protecting the south end of the siphon, it would be possible to exit there. Police were unsure whether or not the men knew about the grate at the other side or whether they may have made it to the end and turned back.
    "It was a deep dive which brings with it all sorts of inherent dangers," said Cannon.
    Reed explained that even though the men were swimming in 9 feet of water, the pressure from the water on the ascending sides of the siphon make the conditions the same as diving in 100 feet of open water.
    That pressure further compresses the air divers breathe from a back-mounted tank and would allow a typical diver to stay at that depth for only about 15 minutes.
    Police said that at least two other deaths are associated with the open portion of the canal which is a popular place to swim during the summer, despite clearly-marked warnings of the danger and posted "no trespassing" signs, said Cannon.
    Friends and family gathered at the south end of the siphon, which sits in the middle of a field of tall, dry grass and watched with grief as the bodies of the brothers were pulled out of the tunnel.
    "They lived for adventure. That's what they did," said Andrew Stewart, one of the brothers' 47 cousins. "They were the two greatest kids in the world."
    "Family always came first to them," said Kevin Stewart, Andrew's brother, adding the men were avid outdoorsmen and loved soccer, hiking, fishing and mountain climbing.
    The Hobbs brothers leave behind their parents, two sisters and a brother as well as a large extended family.
    Ashton would have celebrated his one year wedding anniversary to his wife Tami today, and leaves behind a 7-month-old son, Tiegan.
    "They would go to the ends of the earth for you. Boys like those Hobbs boys are rare," said friend Shauna Walker. "But they're somewhere better than here and we'll see them again."

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[As i mentioned, the B/C & JD! lists are going to float into and out of whack over the forseeable future, while I try to cobble a rig back together for myself. My apologies for any incovenience or misunderstandings in this time frame. New signups/removals may be flaky in this time-frame as well; please bear with me, and keep in mind you may have to FReepmail me more than once for me to get it done. Thanks again!]

[isthisnickcool]

Darwin proved right once again.

[Support Free Republic]

Lighten Up, Francis!

Fundraising posts only happen quarterly, and are gone as soon as we meet the goal. Help make it happen.

[sticker]

How long till some scum lawyer convinces the family to sue
whoever operates the canal, the makers of every piece of equipment they were using and anybody else they can think of?

[Doctor Raoul]

Ignoring a warning from their father.......

A popular thing to do anymore with the way Hollywood and Feminazis have tried to minimze the importance of fathers.

[skr]

Prayers for the family.

[tubebender]

Tragic ping in your back yard...

[Doctor Raoul]

Yoy're right, prayers for the family. Those two had no right to do this to them.

[FReepaholic]

There is absolutely NO WAY you'd catch me cave diving.

You get into trouble and you're screwed. At least in open water diving you can always go up.

I did a heck of a lot of dry cave "spelunking" in my youth. It's dangerous enough without water. You can easily get lost or if you break a leg you can't just call 911.

Imagine being in a tunnel underwater and the silt getting stirred up and you can't see.....gives me shivers just thinking about it.

[gg188]

I know almost nothing about scuba diving----is a structure like this a usual diving location for diving hobbyists?

[hopespringseternal]

I wonder if they were even certified? Any competent diver would tell you this was suicide from the start. They might as well have tried to fly off a building.

[Centurion2000]

Nope ..... cave diving is for advanced divers. This dive was just flat out stupid.

[TFMcGuire]

I agree.

Cave diving---Shudder!

If you want a real palm-sweater, read Bill Royal's, "The Man who Rode Sharks."

He has a couple cave diving close calls.

[hopespringseternal]

I know almost nothing about scuba diving----is a structure like this a usual diving location for diving hobbyists?

Nope.

Diving with anything between you and the surface requires specialized training (cave diving certification) and equipment. Anyone with the specialized training (not to mention anyone with the sense of a turnip) would know this was suicide plain and simple. Witness the rescue divers who declined to go in until the thing was drained.

[PAR35]

Ashton would have celebrated his one year wedding anniversary to his wife Tami today, and leaves behind a 7-month-old son,

It sounds like he has a history of avoiding self-restraint and proper planning.

[WackyKat]

I've read that cave diving is the most dangerous sport in the world.

[Prodigal Son]

I wonder if they were even certified? Any competent diver would tell you this was suicide from the start.

I don't know. A I know a lot of divers who do some really silly stuff. Dive Instructors diving without a buddy. People wanting to do ultra deep dives (there's nothing to see down there). People diving past their table limits or running their air too low. Diving severely hung over.

I like SCUBA a lot. But I like to keep it sane. I can't think of any reason to dive deeper than 35 meters- and only that if there's something sh!t cool to see. I prefer 25 meters and less. I don't cave dive. I don't dive overly tricky currents. I don't dive in murky water.

What these fellows did was just plain stupid.

[dixie sass]

I agree. Nothing else to say.

[Ready4Freddy]

"There were no immediate clues as to why the men did not make it out of the siphon, police said."

I'm going to go with ...because they drowned....

""Family always came first to them," said Kevin Stewart, Andrew's brother..."

Except when it came to ...suicide cave diving....