The Dangerous Truth Of Jacob's Well

On September 9th, 1979 a group of friends from California arrived at Jacob's Well for a diving excursion. It was almost midnight, but as the group set up their tents two of them, 20 year old Kent Maupin and 21 year old Mark Brashier, decided they wanted to squeeze in a quick dive before bed. Despite the late hour, there were other divers at the site who saw the two men descend to the depths of the well and maneuver themselves through the tight opening to the cave's deepest chamber, which required them to take off their oxygen tanks and pull them in separately. In a Houston Chronicle article about the incident it was reported that one of the divers who witnessed the two disappear into the chamber noted that the men didn't have backup lights or a safety line. He said he attempted to get their attention by flashing his own light at them, but that they didn't acknowledge his warning.

Neither man resurfaced. Rescue divers, including Don Dibble, spent weeks attempting to recover their bodies, but were unable to traverse the treacherous passage that had kept the men trapped at the bottom of Jacob's Well.

After his efforts to recover Maupin and Brashier's bodies Dibble installed a grate over the entrance to the cave system in an attempt to keep more people from risking their lives. However, when he made a subsequent dive to check on the barrier several months later the grate had been removed and a note left that read "You can't keep us out."

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