The Strange Disappearance of Ben McDaniel

42 Comments

1. Previous video in the series – https://youtu.be/BhEAD2RdC5I

   Have a great weekend!

2. I was holding my breath waiting to see if his dog would be ok. I can't imagine he'd have left the dog intentionally

3. i understand how desperate his parents would be but some of their actions is sickening

4. It's hard enough to cave dive without breaking the rules!

5. The parents have blood on their hands.

6. Ben drowned.

7. 1% chance of him being past the 3rd restriction. Plenty of other divers have been through there and havent seen a thing. Most people think he was killed by the old shop owner who died too.

8. It seems like everybody involved in this, forgot the initial indication at the edge of the water from the cadaver dog. Well trained good boys very seldom make mistakes like that.

9. Is it impossible that something may have found him in the cave and taken him out through one of the other tributaries either back on land or consumed him?
   Is it possible his disappearance occurred after returning to land?

   On another point, are divers required to learn "cohesive panicking" in their training? By that I mean, getting to a controlled and calm breath rate while in shallow depths with failing oxygen supplies? They can then learn what to do under such circumstances. I get the impression they don't receive this training or something similar…

10. Hey I love this channel! You’re story telling capabilities and you’re cadence make it so easy to listen to and informative. Are there any other similar channels I can follow for this kind of content? I’ve looked around but I haven’t found any the hit it on the head as well as this channel.

11. why would they open the gate for him if he didnt have a permit?? seems like they had something to do with it and lied about letting him into the cave as a coverup? idk

12. Awesome video.
    You should make one about the Tham Luang cave rescue

13. I feel like this comment will go unnoticed but does anyone know what happened to all of the mountaineering videos on the channel they were my favorite and it seems like they have been taken off the channel. Thanks

14. Since his business was failing, I'm wondering if all this was a ruse to "vanish"' to start his life over… leaving his wallet and $1,100 to make it seem like he was still in the cave, but that money was simply part of his ruse…

15. I know it might sound callous, but I have no real sympathy for people who take deadly risks then end up dead, especially when they overestimate their skill level.

16. I ate homemade chili while watching this.

17. He was last seen on my birthday..

18. Better to make artificial caves where we can find them.

19. I will never understand why people explore tight caves UNDERWATER. I would skydive before I did that. Seems like there is no room for error. If anything whatsoever happens while you are down there, you are dead.

20. It was Aliens

21. This is exactly the reasons that, despite the fact that I am a highly decorated diver and trained in underwater recovery and confined space recovery, I still don’t trust a cave underwater

22. I am annoyed with cave divers. They risk other’s lives so they can pursue their selfish ambitions?? It’s a bit much. And the despair they put their families through is unacceptable.

23. Babel please say Iraq Iran Birmingham or Edinburgh Good luck

24. if water flows out somehow, that would explain why no bacteria was found. depending how far he got into the cave

25. Thanks!

26. If anyone thinks Ben is still in the cave, you should watch the interview with Sorensen where he describes his dive and search for Ben’s remains. There’s no way the guy is in Vortex. He unfortunately probably took his own life on the surface. Whether the property/dive shop owner was involved in covering that up, I don’t know, but it seems doubtful. That area is pretty rural, though. Would be difficult to find a body if someone wanted people to think they died while diving, but had really walked into the woods around the spring to end things.

27. Can we divert from caving stories

28. Let's be totally real for a minute; Ben didn't die in that cave. Those sniffing dogs aren't as reliable as you'd hope, even under the best of circumstances. And even if they were, the dog can't smell your scent on something you didn't leave physical traces on. Like, if he went down, in a wet suit and then had someone pick him up from the spring; he wouldn't leave a scent trail if he waited until he got into their car to to expose any skin.

29. Hmm he disappeared on my 12th birthday

30. literally ben drowned

31. Why are people so obsessed with recovering bodies? You're just going to re-bury it lol. Not like you're going to pull a Dr. FRANKENSTEIN

32. I think maybe he came out alive and the shop owner murdered him and hid the body before anybody else saw him.

33. I taught my 12 year old how to dive at Vortex Springs a few days after this gentleman disappeared. He was definitely paying attention to me like never before lol

34. A nice beach house to live in for free, not having to work as you figure things out woo, some people have no idea how good they have it! Instead lemme go cave diving which I’m in no way qualified for. I’m of the thinking he’s in there somewhere. There are 100’s if not 1,000s of off shoots and openings where surely he could be. My heart goes out to his parents, however, that reward money and statement was beyond dangerous. I can not believe they’d be that careless to put more fool’s lives in danger. Meaning Unqualified divers looking at the payday. So sad. TG no one I love is into this sport 🙏

35. Pretty scary how someone can just disappear.

36. I honestly believe he staged his death to start free… But if he did die may he rest in peace 🙏🏽

37. Top Treasure here! Go further!

38. The private eye hired by the parents concluded the dive shop owner was involved. Then they had him wacked.

39. Ed is too good of a person, so are the other rescue and recovery divers, to have to rescue/recover people because they're desperate for that finder's money.
    Please don't do that people. Individually hire if you must, with the understanding they get paid for the work of searching within reason, not finding . Anything else resembles predation. Inciting people to act against their own best interests out of the kind of desperation that we know very well is out there. Your own desperation doesn't make that an okay thing to do. Yes I'm judgemental but I am not entirely wrong here. 🤍Safe adventuring to you all.

40. Of course it would be just as freaky if one day they discover a real life Creature of the Black Lagoon living down there….
    Something with arms… webbed hands… teeth…. and an appetite for cave divers…..

41. The clues were the discarded tanks they found near the start.
    Either he put those there knowing he might use them on a return … which means he mapped out a LONG route and knew he'd be out of air by the time he was returning…
    OR…
    If he were suicidal…
    He removed those for two reasons.
    1. To prevent those tanks from making him rise …
    2. Maybe to shed size so he could squeeze into a tiny area and collapse rock around him so he wouldn't be found.

    But if he did too good a job there… that would destroy the aim of the suicide which would be to get out of debt right?
    shrugs

    His stuff was found in his car… dive notes.. etc.
    Where? the glovebox?
    Too nearly placed maybe?

42. Strange disappearance? More like "Probably Going to Die in a Cave."

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