John Claypool, a 35-year-old police detective from West Palm Beach, Florida, disappeared on January 12, 1998, while on a deep-sea dive two miles off the coast of Palm Beach. He was participating in a 245-foot dive on a sunken barge and reportedly lost control of his buoyancy during the ascent. Two diving companions tried to assist him but he never resurfaced.

The dive also involved New York City investment banker Michael Elkins, who went missing the same day. One companion reached the dive boat and alerted crew, but neither Claypool nor Elkins were ever found. Claypool was wearing a black diving suit and using a compression tank at the time; given the circumstances he is presumed to have drowned. The case is listed as a lost or injured missing person and no remains have been recovered.

Did anyone dive that area regularly in 1998 or have information about the charter that day?