Missing from: Brunswick County, North Carolina
Missing: June 18, 2005
Age at disappearance: 49
Height: 5′ 10″
Weight: 172
Hair : Dark Brown
Eyes: Brown
Classification: Endangered Missing/Presumed drowned
Distinguishing Characteristics: Scars, Marks, Tattoos: Caucasian male. Specialty Clothing: A clear face mask, neon green flippers with fins and black leading down the sides, possibly booties or gloves, a gold wedding ring with a woven rope inside the band and identifying script, a brand new dive watch with a silver face and a silver band, and seven-millimeter full-body 43 Dacor black wetsuit. The wetsuit has the word “Dacor” in white lettering on the outer sleeves, a white logo on the chest of a circle with a diver, thick plastic shin guards and a back zipper.Nickname: Captain Greg Mickey
Details of Disappearance: Mickey, 42, was diving with two friends early Saturday afternoon near Frying Pan Shoals, about 30 miles southeast of Bald Head Island. His friends lost sight of him in rough waters around noon on June 18th, 2005. According to his diving partners, he was last seen on the surface about 50 feet from his boat. A strong cross current swept him and his dive partner northwest of the boat during a free ascent after they failed to find the anchor line at the end of the 110 ft dive. One partner was recovered by the Coast Guard 9 hours later, 4 miles northwest of the dive site, and the third man made it back to the dive boat. Mickey ditched his BC and tank in an attempt to make the swim to boat. Divers recovered Mickey’s weight belt on the bottom, open, 4 days later, but his body was never recovered. Mickey was an advanced certification diver in a full wetsuit, mask, fins and snorkle, so close to the boat, so what happened to him remains a mystery. The US Coast Guard conducted 40 search missions that covered more than 1,000 square miles with aircraft and boats. Others have conducted private searches for Mickey as well.
Investigating Agency: Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office (910) 253-2777
If you have any information on this case, please contact CUE Center for Missing Persons at (910) 343-1131 or call the CUE Center 24-hour tip line at (910) 232-1687. All information submitted to CUE Center for Missing Persons is confidential.
August 04, 2007
MOREHEAD CITY – The final journey of a former Carteret County fishing vessel will be to the bottom of the sea, where it will serve as an artificial reef and memorial to a scuba diver lost at sea two years ago.
The 180-foot Coastal Mariner once used by Beaufort Fisheries was rechristened the Captain Greg Mickey by his friends and family Friday in Morehead City and is scheduled to be sunk today off the coast of Wrightsville Beach.
In its resting place on the ocean floor near Frying Pan Shoals, it will transform into a reef full of sea life; a living memorial to the husband, father and friend they say lived life to the fullest and loved the sea.
“This is a way to give back to the one thing Greg really loved,” said friend Donna Starling of Wilmington, a member of the committee that formed to create a lasting memorial to Mickey.
Mickey was lost as sea on June 18, 2005, in a diving incident near Frying Pan Shoals. According to accounts on the committee’s Web site, he was last seen by his diving partners about 50 feet from his boat. “It was such a great loss. We needed something to memorialize him,” Starling said.
A tribute at sea seemed most fitting for a man who was an experienced diver and avid fishermen, but exactly what to do evolved after exploring various options. Renaming a reef could be difficult, and an initial idea of sinking a reef ball with a plaque in MicKey’s memory didn’t seem like enough, Starling said.
After talking with Jim Francesconi, artificial reef coordinator with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, the committee decided to pay tribute to MicKey by giving him a reef of his own. And with no structures yet at the permitted artificial reef site AR400, the dive site will long bear MicKey’s name.
“When people go diving, they’ll say they are going to dive on the Greg MicKey,” Starling said.
With the support of the Onslow Bay Artificial Reef and Long Bay Artificial Reef Association and the Division of Marine Fisheries, she said, the Capt. Greg MicKey Committee has successfully completed a $75,000 project. The Coastal Mariner was taken to Norfolk, where a crew has worked for the past 15 months to clean and prepare the vessel for sinking. It was towed to Morehead City for the rechristening and was scheduled to leave Friday night for the artificial reef site. Plans are to flood the vessel this morning. MicKey’s widow, Julia, and Illobre, will make a dive at the site after the vessel’s sinking, according to the Capt. Greg MicKey Web site.
Francesconi said the new artificial reef will be a living memorial that supports marine life for years to come. And a reminder of what can be accomplished when people join together.
“This is an example of what people can do when they want to do it,” he said.