What Was That Like · Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media.

STAS11: Tom and Eileen Lonergan

January 16, 2026·22 min

Tom and Eileen Lonergan met at Louisiana State University in the late 1980s and married in June 1988 in Jefferson, Texas. Eileen introduced Tom to scuba diving early in their relationship, and it became a defining shared passion. In 1996, the couple joined the U.S. Peace Corps and spent two years in Tuvalu and Fiji, living simply and serving local communities. As their service ended in 1998, they planned a Great Barrier Reef diving trip to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary before returning to the United States. On January 25, 1998, they boarded the dive boat Outer Edge, operated by Jack Nairn out of Port Douglas, Queensland, along with 24 other passengers. The boat traveled 25 miles offshore to Fish Finder Reef in the Agincourt system, where Tom and Eileen dove for approximately 40 minutes. When the dive ended, the crew conducted a head count that was somehow botched, and the Outer Edge returned to port with only 24 of its 26 passengers. Tom and Eileen surfaced to find the boat gone and themselves alone 25 miles from shore. The boat returned to the marina, passengers dispersed to their hotels, and the crew cleaned the vessel — nobody flagged two unclaimed gear bags containing the couple's dry clothes and passports. The following day, January 26 — Australia Day — the Outer Edge returned to the same reef with a new group of divers. One diver found the Lonergans' dive weights on the ocean floor and brought them up, but the crew pocketed them as free gear and raised no alarm. It was not until January 27, 48 hours after the abandonment, that a crew member examined the leftover bags and found the passports, triggering a massive search and rescue operation involving helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, and dozens of boats. The tour company initially suggested the Lonergans were eccentric and may have staged their disappearance or hitched a ride on a passing vessel. Months later, items washed ashore including a wetsuit, dive tanks, fins, and buoyancy jackets — none showing signs of shark attack. A fisherman found a diver's slate with a message from Tom dated January 26 at 8 a.m., reading: 'To anyone who can help us, we have been abandoned on Agincourt Reef by M.V. Outer Edge, January 25, 1998, 3 p.m. Please help to rescue us before we die.' The slate confirmed the couple survived the first night and were likely near the reef when the boat returned the next day. Investigators also found the couple's personal diaries, which revealed Tom had written about feeling his life was complete and being ready to die, while Eileen wrote about his 'death wish' and her fear of being caught up in it. Jack Nairn's defense team used these entries to argue the couple had deliberately stayed behind in a suicide pact. The Queensland coroner's inquest found Nairn responsible for the safety failures and recommended a manslaughter charge, but the jury returned a not guilty verdict, citing reasonable doubt raised by the diary evidence. Nairn's business collapsed and Australian dive safety laws were overhauled, introducing strict multi-step head count and signature requirements for all Queensland dive boats. Experts believe Tom and Eileen died of dehydration and exposure after approximately 48 hours, likely removing their gear in the final stages of delirium — a known phenomenon — before sinking. Their bodies have never been found.

As heard by us

A botched head count left two divers 25 miles from shore, and no one on the boat noticed.

The dive boat Outer Edge left Tom and Eileen Lonergan behind -- a simple head-count error, 25 miles from shore. Scott, who hosts What Was That Like, tells the story himself this time, no witness in the chair: he walks through each ordinary failure, from Captain Jack heading back…

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Why you'd press play

You press play, Tom and Eileen Lonergan surface from their dive, and the boat is gone.

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