Mexico Mexico - Blake Mitchell, 30, American, disappeared before snorkeling in Cozumel, 13 March 2019

[Petrisial]

Mustang Family Hopes To Find Brother Missing In Cozumel

The family of a Mustang man, who went missing in Cozumel last week, is holding out hope that he will be found safe. He was there working on getting his master diver certification.

The family of 30-year-old Blake Mitchell tells News 9 that on March 13, 2019, he was texting his brother about a tooth ache, and how he was going to try and make his way to the other side of the island to snorkel at some point that day.

But all of a sudden, the texts stopped.

“Wednesday I was a little suspicious, because he never just stops texting me. He usually tells me he loves me, or he’s going to work. Or he’s going to get in the water,” Blake’s brother, Brayden Diebold said.

Blake’s siblings say he was born for the water. He was a lifeguard in Mustang, and his passion for diving came early in life.

“He loves America. And he was planning on coming back just next month,” Blake’s sister Erica Diebold, said.

After Blake's siblings didn't hear from him for a day or so, they called down to Marine World in Cozumel, where Blake worked. They were hoping for good news.

“They told me that they had found his backpack on the dock with his iPad, his MacBook Pro, his phone and his passport in there. Along with his scooter parked near the dock,” Brayden said.

 

[cybervampira]

Ugh. Another one? This dive trainer disappeared in Cozumel as well.

ACTIVE SEARCH - MEXICO - Cameron Donaldson, adult, Canadian dive trainer, Playa Las Rocas, Cozumel, 16 Mar 2019

 

[Petrisial]

Ugh. Another one? This dive trainer disappeared in Cozumel as well.

ACTIVE SEARCH - MEXICO - Cameron Donaldson, adult, Canadian dive trainer, Playa Las Rocas, Cozumel, 16 Mar 2019

Oh wow, I had no idea there was another case like this. Too much sad coincidence in the area

 

[GraceG]

Oh wow, I had no idea there was another case like this. Too much sad coincidence in the area

There are some really dangerous currents in the area. And diving with a toothache. Not a good idea.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 24, 2019
Mustang scuba diver missing from Cozumel, Mexico

[...]

Family members traveled to Cozumel last week and have returned to Oklahoma with few clues as to what happened, she said. Mitchell's cellphone was found in his backpack left on a diving dock. His dog, Sophie, was found at the house he had been staying in. The dog had gone several days without food and water, but is back in Oklahoma with family, Diebold said.

Cozumel police have taken a missing person report but the family plans to hire a private investigator to help, Diebold said.

...It is not known if Mitchell had gone diving when he disappeared, but he had left his morning class early that day.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 25, 2019
Search continues for Mustang scuba diver missing in Cozumel
[...]

Mitchell had been back and forth to Cozumel over the past year, and he was receiving on-the-job training to become a scuba instructor, Diebold said.

[...]

Cozumel is considered relatively safe, but police there haven’t been very helpful, Diebold said.

“We’ve been doing our own police work,” she said. “His best friend, Jorge, is really afraid that something has happened to him.”

Mitchell’s mother, Stacy Layton, returned Saturday from Mexico, and she brought back Mitchell’s dog, Sophie.

The dog is a service animal, who helped Mitchell with depression.

[...]

Mitchell was raised on a Mustang cattle and wheat farm that has been in his family since the 1889 land run, Diebold said.

She said her brother farmed, and he intended to open a scuba shop in Oklahoma City.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 25, 2019
VIDEO: Search For Missing Mustang Man Expands
As the search for a missing Mustang man enters into its second week, family members say the US Embassy, Navy and Coast Guard are expanding their search to include surrounding islands and the Caribbean Sea. Blake Mitchell was in Cozumel training to get his master scuba diver certification.

 

[GraceG]

In 2017, the U.S. State Department warned against traveling to certain Mexican states, including Quintana Roo (home to Cozumel).

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 31, 2019
Family of missing Mustang scuba diver turns to private investigators for help
Almost three weeks after a scuba diver from Mustang went missing in Mexico, his family members are holding out hope private investigators might help find him.

[...]

Brayden Diebold, his brother, said police on the Mexican island have not reported any traces or clues of what happened to Mitchell.

[...]

"Its absolutely devastating. I miss my brother so bad, as well as my whole family. It has been 18 days, and even though we have people working on it I feel helpless. We can’t give up hope, but it’s hard not to think of the negatives more than the positives. All I have is hope," he said.

"For right now my hope is that the private investigators will find some sort of leads, or anything at all that could ease my mind even a little bit," Diebold said. "I have nightmares every night, and struggle sleeping. I still have to live my life like my brother hasn’t been missing for 18 days."

[...]

 

[SpanishMossAntiques]

In 2017, the U.S. State Department warned against traveling to certain Mexican states, including Quintana Roo (home to Cozumel).

My former boss (who is a good friend of mine as well) is a Certified Dive Master and she travels to Cozumel alone maybe 2-3x/year to take advanced dive training classes. For me (I used to live in Key West), I think any kind of diving and even snorkeling alone is incredibly dangerous - not to mention that Mr. Mitchell was suffering from depression that was apparently severe enough to require him to have a Service/Emotional Support Dog. Was he suicidal? Also, going into the water with a toothache is always a very, very bad idea; he could have had a major infection of his heart as a result of that! Anyway, in the Keys many, many, many people would get injured or killed while diving or snorkeling each year - diving is a very physical sport that requires a participant to be in excellent condition as it's tough on your heart (and body in general). You have to really pay attention to everything you're doing, and everything around you. You cannot miss any details... Then, threats like strong rip tides, undercurrents (here in Chicago if you look at the Chicago River say from the Michigan Avenue bridge, it looks dead calm - but fall in and that undertow will grab you and it will not let go), bull sharks (found mainly in disturbed, dark-colored brackish water) cannot see very well and will definitely take a bite out of a person (contrary to popular belief, they don't generally 'consume' people - sharks like to eat sushi, just like us; people do not taste good - we have awful diets and we ingest chemicals etc that well, result in us tasting just terrible: As a result, sharks usually take a bit and spit us out - but that bite is often severe enough to lacerate major arteries and we bleed to death quickly), and of course, crime and brutality (which in Mexico is pretty much commonplace) are factors as well. Many in law enforcement in Mexico will happily take a bribe - whenever I go there I carry money specifically for that... Anyway, I suspect that sadly he drowned, and that his body has sunk to the bottom and will float back up after a few days. Again, this was a very common occurrence with drowning victims in the islands where I lived - they'd go missing, and then turn up maybe 5 days later floating in the mangroves near shore (having been brought there by the currents). Folks, you can never, ever take water for granted; I worked part-time as a 1st Mate on a charter fishing boat, and clients would often ask me (when we were around 30 miles off-shore, where you couldn't see land anymore), "how deep is it here"? I'd reply, "it'd be over your head, and that's the only thing that matters - people drown in bathtubs; and, when you're in the water you have to remember that you are not at the top of the Food Chain anymore - in fact, you're at the very bottom. Lastly, whenever you're in the sea swimming or snorkeling or otherwise enjoying yourself you need to remember that some very large creature hiding in the shadows nearby -and even schools of smaller fish- are watching you and seriously considering eating you". So before we head down conspiracy road because 2 divers are missing from Cozumel, remember that diving is one of the most dangerous -yet most rewarding- activities humans can engage in.

 

[houndpounder]

I am a certified Naui diver.

The first 2 rules of diving

1) Never dive alone. Too many things can go wrong. Equipment can break, you can loss your mask, etc. Your dive partner will have a minimum of 2 regulators to help their partner breathe if need be. Issues come up even when you check your gear before entering the water which all divers do. Everyone I know with years of experience that died diving were alone.

2) Never ever hold your breath on Scuba gear not even in 5 feet of water.

 

[PommyMommy]

April 21, 2019
#FINDBLAKEMITCHELL
Both of Blake's oxygen/nitrogen tanks were recovered from Cozumel Marine World and are back with family in Oklahoma. The tanks had no damage.

April 24, 2019
An Oklahoma family is looking for answers after a loved one goes missing.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=592630861216977

 

[JerseyGirl]

Four months after a scuba diver went missing in Mexico, his family says they have fallen victim to scammers who have demanded money from them by posing as possible kidnappers.

Scammers claim to have missing Mustang man

Mitchell had been renting a room in Cozumel while taking classes at a local scuba diving school when he went missing in mid-March.

Family members traveled to Cozumel and found Mitchell's cellphone was in his backpack, left on a diving dock. His dog, Sophie, was found at the house he had been staying in. The dog had gone several days without food and water, but is back in Oklahoma with family. There were no further traces of him.

 

[ElementalLaura]

My heart goes out to his family. Scammers can probably harvest enough info from social media to add credibility to their demands.

 

[PommyMommy]

JUL 28, 2019
Oklahoma family says they’re victims of a ransom scam after loved one is still missing

• A man demanded thousands of dollars in cash for BM's release.
• It all started with a series of texts from an unrecognized number.
• "We kidnapped your brother," ED said. "We demand ransom. We have him with us. He's sick and has ulcers."
• ED said the scammer told her he was going to kill Blake if he didn't get the money, even going to the point of pretending he was a doctor.
• ED admits her family did send the alleged kidnapper a couple hundred bucks just to hear Blake's voice before realizing it was all a lie.
• The Canadian County Sheriff's Office is investigating the scam.

 

[maine2016]

April 21, 2019
#FINDBLAKEMITCHELL
Both of Blake's oxygen/nitrogen tanks were recovered from Cozumel Marine World and are back with family in Oklahoma. The tanks had no damage.

April 24, 2019
An Oklahoma family is looking for answers after a loved one goes missing.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=592630861216977

I wonder if this means his tanks were recovered from the water, or, if they were on land???

 

[PommyMommy]

I wonder if this means his tanks were recovered from the water, or, if they were on land???

His sister said they were found at the dive shop. #FINDBLAKEMITCHELL

But, that's a really good question. Did Blake leave them at the dive shop? It sounds like he probably did since he had a toothache and left class early. But then, his backpack was left on a diving dock... MOO

 

[KariKae]

The family of 30-year-old Blake Mitchell tells News 9 that on March 13, 2019, he was texting his brother about a tooth ache, and how he was going to try and make his way to the other side of the island to snorkel at some point that day.

This ^^^ says he was going to try to snorkel that day. Coupled with his undamaged nitrox tanks found at the dive shop makes me think he did not scuba dive that day. Maybe he snorkeled, but didn't dive.

Plus, diving with a toothache would be extraordinarily painful. And one of the first things you learn in diving class is not to dive unless you are healthy...not even a runny nose.

 

[KariKae]

[QUOTE="
But then, his backpack was left on a diving dock... MOO[/QUOTE]

RSBM - That is that part I don't understand....I don't think he planned to enter the water. Experienced divers know not to take a backpack full of electronics on the boat because they can easily get wet and ruined. Leaving a backpack full of valuables on the dock is a stupid thing to do regardless of the country you are in. If he planned to enter the water, he would have left the backpack at home.

Because a backpack full of valuables was left behind, that makes robbery a less likely motive.

Even though he had suffered from depression in the past, I don't think he was suicidal. I don't think he would have left his poor dog to suffer without food or water.

What if - because of the toothache - he wanted to test the pain if he went down - Maybe he took his snorkel and mask and went "skin diving" down 10 - 15 feet. Maybe he got entangled in something and could not free himself? But even in that scenario, I think a body would have surfaced by now.

This case makes me sad - It has gotten coverage on the local news. In watching it, there was a photo of Blake with a woman. She is the same woman who scuba certified my entire family. It hits close to home and I would love for the family to know what happened.