Heading to Texas for a hog hunt, a group of Florida hunters arrived in Bastrop County excited at the possibility of putting some Texas pork on the ground. Upon their arrival, their dog reportedly took off out of the truck and found itself in an underground cistern.
“It appears that they were out hog hunting,” said Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook. “One of the dogs escaped from the truck and fell into the cistern. Once the dog fell into the cistern it appears that one of the hunters dove in or jumped in the cistern.”
In a rescue mission gone wrong, it was reported that one-by-one, the hunting trio dove into the cistern in an attempt to save the previous person, starting with the dog. Once inside, officials from the Sheriff’s office believe the toxic gas commonly found in these types of holding tanks overtook the hunters, resulting in their death.
“We are speculating that the hydrogen sulfide gas overcame them, and they were not able to maintain any type of buoyancy on top of the water. Therefore, they sank underneath,” said Cook.
The three Florida hunters who died were identified on Thursday by the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Department as 26-year-old Denise Martinez, 37-year-old Delvys Garcia, and 45-year-old Noel Vigil-Benitez. A fourth man was present and was the one that placed the frantic 911 call that kickstarted the rescue efforts.
Authorities worked to drain the cistern of both the water and toxic fumes before lowering one of their own into the tank to assess the carnage. The bodies of the three hunters and their K9 were later recovered on Wednesday night.
While there is no doubt of the senseless and unfortunate nature of the incident, it has since spurred a number of questions. As per Texas law, cisterns such as this one are required to have a cover on them to prevent incidents just like this one from happening.
“There was no cover anywhere around. This was just an open hole in the middle of a corn field,” said Cook.
Additionally, the specifics of the hunt have also come into question. With the incident taking place on a private piece of property, investigators have since learned that the landowner was recently deceased, calling into question the legitimacy of the hunting expedition as well.
Autopsy results are pending and are expected to confirm the exact cause of death in the coming days.
