# FWC searching for missing diving equipment - Tenneco Rig



## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)

Officials are investigating a dive that turned deadly for a Pensacola man.

Law enforcement with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) says they are investigating the death of 63-year-old Gary Franklin.

FWC says on October 5, Franklin was taking part in a recreational dive on the Tenneco Rig, a dive site located approximately 26 miles of Pensacola in Federal Waters, when his equipment is believed to have malfunctioned.

Rescue efforts were made by another diver; however, FWC says it was unsuccessful and Franklin died.

Franklin’s diving gear was left behind during the incident. When investigators returned to the area with divers to retrieve the equipment, they couldn’t find it.

If you have information on this incident, call FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWC.


*Copied from Sharon Price Facebook:*

Please help: A search is being made for Gary Franklin's scuba diving equipment, including high-end spear guns, all of which is marked or engraved with Gary's name.

Gary is my stepson's stepfather and an extremely experienced, avid diver, who died Oct. 5, 2019 in a scuba diving accident while diving the Tenneco Rig with a dive buddy in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, 26 miles south of Pensacola.

Some components of Gary's safety equipment malfunctioned and he had to drop all his gear it at 175' in order to ascend. When authorities went to retrieve Gary's equipment from the floor of the Gulf, all the gear was gone, and It is important for this gear to be recovered.

If you know or learn any information concerning the whereabouts of Gary's dive equipment, please contact FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) or text [email protected].

Thank you in advance.


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