The CRUX: True Survival Stories

In this episode of the Crux podcast's Disaster Strikes segment, hosts Kaycee McIntosh and Julie Henningsen delve into the harrowing story of Dave Shaw, a technical diver who tragically perished while attempting to recover the body of a fellow diver, Deon Dreyer, from the depths of Bushman's Hole in South Africa. Listeners are taken through the extreme dangers of cave diving, the physiological and equipment challenges faced at extreme depths, and the sequence of events that led to Shaw's death. The narrative also touches on the ethical debate surrounding the attempted recovery, the impact on the diving community, and the lessons learned from this tragic incident.

00:00 Introduction to Disaster Strikes
01:04 The Fatal Dive of Dave Shaw

01:46 Understanding the Dangers of Cave Diving

06:19 Dave Shaw's Background and Diving Career

10:14 The Discovery of Deon Dreyer's Body

11:56 Planning the Recovery Dive

14:37 The Final Dive

19:01 The Fatal Spiral Begins

19:10 Shaw's Descent and Initial Struggles

19:59 The Unexpected Buoyancy Challenge

20:46 The Entanglement and Panic

22:51 Shaw's Final Moments

25:01 The Aftermath and Recovery

26:58 Debates and Controversies

34:23 Changes in Diving Practices

36:28 Unresolved Questions and Legacy

38:01 Conclusion and Reflections

Listen AD FREE: Support our podcast at patreaon: http://patreon.com/TheCruxTrueSurvivalPodcast

Email us! [email protected]

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecruxpodcast/

Get schooled by Julie in outdoor wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/

Primary Sources:

Zimmermann, Tim. "Raising the Dead." Outside Magazine, August 1, 2005.

Main investigative article, extensive detail on Shaw and the incident

Finch, Phillip. Diving Into Darkness: A True Story of Death and Survival. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008.

Book-length treatment of the incident with detailed accounts

Mitchell, SJ; Cronjé, FJ; Meintjes, WA; Britz, HC. "Fatal respiratory failure during a 'technical' rebreather dive at extreme pressure." Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, February 2007; 78(2): 81-6.

Medical/forensic analysis of Shaw's death

Dave Not Coming Back (2020). Documentary film.

Features Don Shirley's firsthand account and helmet camera footage

Secondary Sources:

Wikipedia: Dave Shaw - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Shaw

Verified biographical details, dates, equipment specifications

Wikipedia: Deon Dreyer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deon_Dreyer

Verified details about Dreyer's death and recovery

Wikipedia: Boesmansgat - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boesmansgat

Geographic and depth record information

All That's Interesting. "The Tragic Story Of Dave Shaw" https://allthatsinteresting.com/dave-shaw

Dive-Scuba.com. "Dave Shaw: The Full Story of the Bushman's Hole Diving Incident" https://www.dive-scuba.com/dave-shaw-incident/

South China Morning Post. "Dead diver fulfills his last mission," January 13, 2005

Contemporary news coverage from Shaw's home base

News24 (South Africa). "Divers' bodies 'unexpected,'" January 12, 2005 https://www.news24.com/divers-bodies-unexpected-20050112

Divernet. "Dave Shaw died from carbon dioxide black-out" https://divernet.com/scuba-news/dave-shaw-died-from-carbon-dioxide-black-out/

InDEPTH Magazine. "The Aftermath Of Love: Don Shirley and Dave Shaw" https://indepthmag.com/the-consequence-of-love-don-shirley-and-dave-shaw/

Technical Diving Forums (ScubaBoard, Yorkshire Divers)

Contemporary discussions and firsthand accounts from support divers

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Quicksand isn't a movie prop. It's real, it looks completely normal, and it happened to two men in the past three months — one in a frozen Utah canyon, one in a Florida mud pit. Austin Dirks is an experienced thru-hiker with thousands of backcountry miles. He stepped into what looked like an inch of water in Arches National Park and couldn't move for two hours. Andrew Giddens disappeared on Valentine's Day and wasn't found for days — shoulder-deep in saturated clay at an industrial site, invisible from 20 feet away. We cover the science of why quicksand traps people, why fighting back makes it worse, and what actually works — plus a 2026 NPS safety alert for Glen Canyon that's worth hearing before spring break. If you ever find yourself sinking, stop. Just stop.

00:00 Podcast Introduction

00:30 Quicksand Nightmare Setup

02:29 Utah Canyon Incident

06:06 Rescue In Courthouse Wash

08:00 Quicksand Myths Explained

08:44 How Quicksand Works

12:18 Rescue Tactics And Physics

14:17 Self Rescue Tips

15:17 Zion Subway Survival

18:20 Florida Mud Pit Case

21:40 Entrapment Survival Mindset

22:20 How Long Was He Stuck

23:27 Deputy Spots The Truck

24:49 A Face In The Mud

25:57 Two Hour Extraction

27:31 Aftermath And Medical Risks

29:15 Is Quicksand A Real Risk

30:55 Where Quicksand Forms

31:48 Warning Signs And Probing

32:53 Smart Moves If You Sink

34:43 Calling For Help Fast

37:32 Why Stillness Wins

41:34 New NPS Quicksand Alert

43:07 Final Takeaways And Resources

Listen AD FREE: Support our podcast at patreaon: http://patreon.com/TheCruxTrueSurvivalPodcast

Email us! [email protected]

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecruxpodcast/

Get schooled by Julie in outdoor wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/

Resources

Austin Dirks / Grand County Search and Rescue — local Utah news coverage, December 2025

Andrew Giddens / Putnam County Sheriff's Office — Palatka Fire Department statement, February 2026

Ryan Osmond / Zion National Park — Utah DPS rescue records, February 2019

Science

Daniel Bonn et al., Nature — "Granular media: how to pull out a foot" (2005)

Safety & Alerts

National Park Service — Glen Canyon National Recreation Area quicksand safety alert, March 2026 — nps.gov

The Broomway

Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Broomway

BBC Travel — "This desolate English path has killed more than 100 people" — bbc.com/travel

Robert Macfarlane, The Old Ways (2012)

Crisis Resource

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988 — 988lifeline.org

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When a 2.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania on ANZAC Day 2006, seventeen miners were underground. Fourteen walked out. One didn't survive. And two men — Todd Russell and Brant Webb — simply disappeared into the rock. In this episode, Julie and Kaycee go deep into the fourteen days that followed: the silence, the injuries, the moment rescuers heard something unexpected, and the painstaking engineering effort to bring them home — plus the part of the story that rarely gets told, what survival cost them long after they walked back into the light.

00:00 Patreon

00:34 Podcast Intro And Setup

01:09 Mine Collapse Strikes

03:46 Meet Todd And Brant

05:42 Trapped In Darkness

08:44 Rescue Plan And Bad Ground

11:07 Singing Confirms Life

12:28 Borehole Lifeline Supplies

14:00 Injuries And Long Wait

16:05 Grief And Gallows Humor

17:57 Music And Foo Fighters Note

19:57 Drilling The Escape Tunnel

21:58 World Watches The Rescue

22:46 Day 14 Breakthrough

24:50 Aftermath PTSD And Community Cost

28:05 Why They Survived

30:22 Legacy And Closing Thanks

32:19 Reviews And Listener Outreach

 

Listen AD FREE: Support our podcast at patreaon: http://patreon.com/TheCruxTrueSurvivalPodcast

Email us! [email protected]

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecruxpodcast/

Get schooled by Julie in outdoor wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/

REFERENCES:

Beaconsfield Mine Collapse, Wikipedia

Bad Ground: Inside the Beaconsfield Mine Rescue — Tony Wright, Todd Russell & Brant Webb

The Examiner, Launceston — "Rescuers Real Heroes," April 2016

Australian Geographic — "On This Day: Beaconsfield Miners Rescued," November 2013

SBS News — "Beaconsfield Miners Speak of Lasting Scars," April 2016

Raisebore Australia — Beaconsfield Rescue Case Study, raisebore.com.au

Monument Australia — Beaconsfield Mine Rescue Plaque Record

Celebrity Speakers Australia — Todd Russell Speaker Profile

World Socialist Web Site — "The Australian Media and the Beaconsfield Mine Rescue," May 2006

Geoscience Australia — Seismic Event Records, April 2006

Channel 9 — Todd Russell and Brant Webb exclusive interview, May 21, 2006

60 Minutes Australia — Todd Russell interview on PTSD

The Sydney Morning Herald — Beaconsfield Mine rescue coverage, May 2006

Prime Minister John Howard — Parliamentary Reception Statement, May 29, 2006

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Silver Plume, Colorado — population 130 — became the setting for one of the strangest unsolved disappearances in Rocky Mountain history. In the summer of 1988, sportswriter-turned-novelist Keith Reinhard rented a storefront on Main Street, began writing a fictional character based on the building's previous tenant — a reclusive man who'd walked into the mountains and never returned — and slowly lost the boundary between the story he was writing and the life he was living. On August 7th, hungover and wearing tennis shoes, Keith announced to multiple townspeople that he was going to summit 12,275-foot Pendleton Mountain alone, starting at 4:30 in the afternoon — then walked away and was never seen again. What followed was one of the largest search and rescue operations in Colorado history, a fatal plane crash, and a cold case that's now over 35 years old. Was it an accident? A suicide? A staged disappearance? Or did Keith Reinhard stumble onto something about his predecessor's death that someone didn't want known?

00:00 Introduction to Disaster Strikes

00:42 Keith Reinhardt's Mysterious Disappearance

03:01 The Life of Keith Reinhardt

05:20 The Eerie Connection to Tom Young

08:06 Keith's Obsession and Final Days

16:31 The Search and Theories

23:25 Unsolved Mysteries and Ongoing Questions

26:59 Conclusion and Dedication

Listen AD FREE: Support our podcast at patreaon: http://patreon.com/TheCruxTrueSurvivalPodcast

Email us! [email protected]

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecruxpodcast/

Get schooled by Julie in outdoor wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/

References

Colorado Cold Case Files - Keith Reinhard Case #307 - Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office (Contact: 303-679-2376) - https://apps.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/casedetail.html?id=307

Chicago Tribune: "Search for Reporter Halted in Colorado" (August 15, 1988)

Chicago Tribune: "A Chicago-area sportswriter disappeared 31 years ago in Colorado" (January 9, 2020)

Daily Herald: "The anniversary of Keith Reinhard's disappearance sparks fresh perspectives" by Jim O'Donnell (August 8, 2023)

CBS Colorado: "Still No Clues In Cold Case Of Man Who Went Missing 30 Years Ago" (August 7, 2018)

Eric Walter Blog: "Mountain, Murder, or Mexico?" and "The Needle in the Haystack" - https://www.ericwalterdocs.com/

Travel Channel: "Lost in the Wild" - Keith Reinhard episode (January 2020) - Investigators: J.J. Kelley and Kinga Philipps

Unsolved Mysteries: Original broadcast January 31, 1990 (Season 2, Episode 15 with Robert Stack); Rebroadcast Season 6, Episode 20 (with Dennis Farina)

The Charley Project: Keith R. Reinhard case file - https://charleyproject.org/case/keith-r-reinhard

StrangeOutdoors.com: "The bizarre disappearance of Keith Reinhard and death of Tom Young in the Rocky Mountains" - https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/keith-reinhard

Missing NPF: Keith R. Reinhard case listing - https://missingnpf.com/listing/keith-r-reinhard/

Historic Mysteries: "The Bizarre Disappearance of Keith Reinhard in Silver Plume, Colorado" (April 17, 2020)

Locations Unknown: Keith Reinhard case profile (November 28, 2021)

Unsolved Mysteries Wiki: Keith Reinhard and Tom Young case pages

Our Community Now: "Cold Cases: The Disappearances of These 2 Colorado Men Are Eerily Similar and Creepy as Hell"

Substack: "Twin Disappearances into the Peaks" by Thorne (July 22, 2021)

Unsolved.com: Keith Reinhard case discussion forum

The Curious Case of Keith Reinhard and Tom Young blog (February 24, 2025) - https://www.asheycakes.com/post/the-curious-case-of-keith-reinhard-and-tom-young

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On May 20, 2016, ICU nurse Amber Kornhorst set out on a solo late-afternoon hike near Cane Beds, Arizona, and climbed a deceptively "sticky" sandstone wall she couldn't safely descend. With no cell service and no way out, she fell about 100 feet into a narrow rock "dungeon," suffering three spinal fractures, a crushed pelvis, head and facial injuries, severe dehydration, and hypothermia — and typed goodbye messages to her family on her phone. Refusing to give up, she crawled and climbed to a more visible ledge and blew her whistle three blasts every half hour until search-and-rescue teams and a helicopter located her nearly 24 hours later, executing a technical rope raise and hover-load evacuation to a Utah hospital. Her story drives home survival essentials: always tell someone your plan, never hike alone, start early, carry extra water and a whistle, consider a satellite communicator, and never climb anything you can't safely descend.

00:46 Show Intro And Setup

01:40 Amber Hits The Trail

03:02 Climbing The Sandstone Wave

04:10 No Way Down Desert Trap

05:32 The Hundred Foot Fall

06:20 Shock And Goodbye Texts

08:27 Painful Climb And Whistle

11:03 Search Effort Mobilizes

12:41 Helicopter Spots Her

14:16 Technical Rope Rescue

16:10 Hover Pickup Extraction

17:02 Helicopter Evacuation

17:43 Hospital Recovery Journey

19:06 Why She Survived

19:43 Whistle and Visibility

21:55 Search Mobilized Fast

22:50 Wilderness Safety Takeaways

25:03 Desert Hiking Mistakes

27:08 Survival Mindset Lessons

29:47 Final Wrap and Credits

Listen AD FREE: Support our podcast at patreaon: http://patreon.com/TheCruxTrueSurvivalPodcast

Email us! [email protected]

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecruxpodcast/

Get schooled by Julie in outdoor wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/

Primary/First-Person Account

Kohnhorst, Amber. "Surviving Alone After a 100-Foot Fall in the Arizona Wilderness." Backpacker Magazine, February 28, 2017. https://www.backpacker.com/survival/surviving-a-100-foot-fall-in-arizona/

News Coverage

"Rochester Woman Survives 100-Foot Tumble On Hike In Arizona." WCCO/CBS Minnesota, May 24, 2016. https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/05/24/rochester-woman-100-foot-fall-arizona

"Hiker Recovering After Northwest Arizona Fall." KTNV, May 25, 2016. https://www.ktnv.com/news/hiker-rescued-in-rural-northwest-arizona

"Hiker Who Fell Is Mending at Home." Post Bulletin, 2016. https://www.postbulletin.com/newsmd/hiker-who-fell-is-mending-at-home

"The 100-Foot Fall. The Long Climb Back." Post Bulletin. https://www.postbulletin.com/news/the-100-foot-fall-the-long-climb-back

Institutional Coverage

"Nurse Becomes Patient After Surviving 100-Foot Fall While Hiking." Mayo Clinic In the Loop, June 9, 2016. https://intheloop.mayoclinic.org/2016/06/09/nurse-becomes-patient-after-surviving-100-foot-fall-while-hiking/

"Amber Kohnhorst's Trip to the Sanctuary." Best Friends Animal Society. https://bestfriends.org/stories/features/mayo-clinic-nurse-who-survived-100-foot-fall-returns-best-friends

Background

"Cane Beds, Arizona." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_Beds,_Arizona

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.