NEGRIL, Jamaica -- The Westmoreland police fear that a missing American visitor who was vacationing at Grand Lido, Negril may have drowned after he went scuba diving with a friend three days ago.
The missing man has been identified as Gregory Grethen 55 years old sales representative of Statles, St Claire Shore Michigan, United States.
According to Constable Odean Dennis, Constabulary Communication Network Liaison Officer for Westmoreland, around 9:30 am Friday, Gregory Grethen who was vacationing at Grand Lido, Negril went missing after he and a friend went scuba diving.
It is reported that Grethen failed to surface after a dive nearly a mile out at sea.
An extensive underwater and surface search by divers from several hotels in the Negril resort area, the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) Coast Guard and the Negril marine police, failed to detect the missing man.
The search was called off at nightfall, and resumed Saturday, again with no sign of Grethen.
The Negril marine police continue investigations.
Meanwhile, Zein Nakash, Grand Lido's vice president of marketing and environmental affairs, describing the incident as 'very, very sad', said the hotel was doing everything in its power to find the American salesman.
"Very unfortunate incident - but we are hoping for the best," said Nakash.
"Everybody is saddened and concerned over the missing guest. We called in the JDF for assistance and they had divers under water and helicopters searching the water surface but he is still not found," Nakash told the Observer yesterday.
Grethen, who is said to be an experienced diver, was staying at the hotel with his wife who left the island Saturday. A brother of the missing man flew into the island Saturday, as the search continued.
source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/
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Reader Comments
6 people have commented so far.thats a lie we don't have no sharks in jamaica.I don't believe it but if i do i will never ever go back to the beach.
comment# 1 - None of your business · none of ur business · Feb 5, 2009 @ 5:31pm
many years ago I lived in Kingston. I used to go to the Morgans Harbour beach swimming. Several times I saw the trails of crocs and once saw a shark fin break the water some 20 feet away from the boat jetty. There are many sharks in the area and in Kingston Harbour. Any of the local fisherman or boatmen will confirm this. I have also seen sharks on the North Shore. It is a tropical climate, warm seas, fish etc. so how could you not believe sharks show up.
comment# 2 - james · London UK · May 17, 2010 @ 11:32am
I have been a PADI instructor for many years diving the beautifull coast line of this wonderfull country and the only sharks that are here are Nurse Sharks, not even white or black tips which are also reef sharks. Nurse sharks eat bottom-dwelling fish, shrimp, squid, octopus, crabs, sea snails, lobster, sea urchins, and coral. The barbels (thin, fleshy, whisker-like organs on the lower jaw in front of the nostrils that sense touch and taste) help the shark locate potential food. Most hunting is done at night. The nurse shark is a large, sluggish, docile shark that is generally harmless unless provoked. Nurse sharks congregate in schools. They are sluggish or rest during the day, sometimes piled together on the bottom. Nurse sharks live in warm waters and are shallow-water sharks (going from the surface to 230 feet = 70 m deep). They are bottom-dwellers, living near sandy beaches, mudflats, and sandbars. They are common in coral reefs. Our Coastal waters are too warm to attract any form of man eating predators, that is why our beaches are the best world wide, nothing to fear. There as been no recordings of any sharks attacts in Jamaica WI, none.
comment# 3 - Marlon Gardner · Jamaica WI, St Ann · Jul 24, 2010 @ 9:03am
My husband and I were snorkeling along the coral reef in Bloody Bay next to the Grand Lido last September 2009. We have gone snorkeling in this area for the last eight years. This year there was more seaweed then in the past and when snorkeling along the edge coming right out of the seaweed was a reef shark not a nurse shark I am well aware of the difference. We will be returning this September and I will stay clear of that area. Sue Chicago Il Aug 15,2010
comment# 4 - sue · chicago illinois · Aug 15, 2010 @ 6:57pm
I just learned how to snorkel a few weeks ago and my husband and I went to the Bloody Bay area and two other locations further out with the boat from Sandals, Negril. It was one of the best adventures for me to see underneath the water. Not once did we see a shark of any type. I think if you go far enough out to sea then you might scuba diving. The Jamaicans said the only sharks are Hammerhead and Nurse Sharks.
comment# 5 - Joyclyn Brodeur · Maryland Heights, MO USA · Jul 27, 2011 @ 4:36pm
I lived on the cliffs in Negril Jamaica for a year in the 1980s and swam in the water every day ad EVER did I hear any talk of sharks or see any. Yet, I did see Barracudas.. I remember hearing that one had come into die 20 years before I lived there but honestly, I never ever had any reason to fear Sharks and had there been the slightest reason to, I wold not have been in the water. Jelly fish are more of a problem, albeit, harmless, than Sharks.
comment# 6 - Shelagh Stone · Canada · Dec 24, 2011 @ 4:43pm