GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – Rescuers in the Cayman Islands searched Monday for a North Carolina man who went missing during a diving excursion off a popular beach in the British Caribbean territory.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service said 57-year-old David Byles of Pinehurst, North Carolina, was last seen Sunday morning during an organized dive at Barracuda Wall off Grand Cayman's Seven Mile Beach.
Byles had surfaced with his wife after a dive and they were swimming about 100 yards back to the boat when he vanished from view, police said. An immediate search of the area by the boat's crew failed to find him.
Since then, police divers and various other personnel have conducted marine and air searches. The missing man's scuba tank, buoyancy control device and an article of his clothing were found in the water Monday, but there was no sign of Byles, authorities said.
Cayman Police Inspector Ian Yearwood appealed for specialist divers experienced in depths of at least 135 feet (41 meters) to join the search Tuesday.