In our first installment, we discussed the circumstances surrounding our involvement with Katco Media, the Hollywood production company responsible for the docudrama “Shattered Hopes: The True Story of The Amityville Murders”. We had agreed to assist them in attempting to locate a murder weapon that they believed had been disposed of in a body of water some 37 years ago.
The first step would be an examination of local ordinances to determine the legality of performing dive operations at the site. Finding no obvious restrictions, we used satellite imagery to assist us in defining our search area, basically covering the entire area that an adult male could conceivably throw a pistol from a bulkhead. With our search area plotted, it was time to go to the site and survey the conditions that would affect a full scale search, such as access to the water, tide and current, depth, obstructions and bottom type. We found relatively easy access to the canal from a bulkhead with about 5 feet of water, and typically dark canal water. Not really the nicest place to dive, but we were well prepared with hazmat suits courtesy of John Drewniak at Whites Diving, and full-face masks with wireless comm courtesy of Jerry Barrett at Air and Gas Technologies.
Our plan was to do a quick bottom survey of the entire search area with tethered divers using a “dock walk” pattern. In this manner we could cover the entire search area with little risk of the divers becoming disoriented in the dark water. The divers were guided around the entire search area and stopped every few feet to report depth and bottom conditions. They also used 3 foot long probes marked in 6 inch increments to measure the thickness of the mud and silt at each location. Topside support personnel used this information to create a detailed underwater map of the search area, an invaluable tool for a future full scale search.
By the end of the day we were able to report the following conditions; the search area was approximately 125 by 75 feet. The water depth ranged from 5 feet at the bulkhead to approximately 9 feet at a distance of 75 feet, with a smooth, gradual slope. Visibility was practically non-existent. Other than a single dock piling, there were no major obstructions on the site. The bottom consisted of silt over harder mud, with the silt ranging from 9 inches in most areas to a few spots over 3 feet thick. The underlying mud went as deep as we could reach with our probes. Obviously, after 37 years, our murder weapon is going to be buried deep in the mud along with a lot of other junk. It’s time to start looking for some sophisticated electronics if we’re going to get this job done!
To be continued…
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