The Raven’s Report

A photo of one of the Texas Air Rangers at the Friday jump.

Golan County Search & Rescue and the Golan County Sheriff’s Office are continuing the search for two parachutists who are missing following a jump on Friday. The parachutists, Ellie Castle and David Wang, jumped with a local parachute enthusiasts group as part of the celebration of Pinebox Softball Daze, which began Friday evening. The group, the Texas Air Rangers, practices aerial maneuvers and pinpoint landing and often performs at air shows around the region.

Sherriff Butch Anderson has confirmed that all twelve members of the group, including Castle and Wang, were aboard the DeHavilland Twin Otter when it took off from Golon County Airport. Witnesses among the group report that Castle and Wang jumped at the same time as the others. Photographs taken from the ground show all twelve members linking arms to form a circular “star cluster” as they descended. Ten members of the Texas Air Rangers landed at the Pinebox Athletic Field as planned, but Castle and Wang failed to appear.

Although no official cause has been put forward and no bodies have been recovered, a member of the Texas Air Rangers stated on condition of anonymity that the two parachutists may have collided in midair, knocking them unconscious and they fell to the ground without opening their chutes. Another member of the team, also speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that the dive became difficult after the group broke up, with violent air currents and unusual updrafts.

Texas Air Ranger president Adam Lang has released a statement thanking the Golon County Search & Rescue and Sheriff’s office for their continued efforts.

Emergency services went to the Golan County Community Pool on Friday after receiving a call from a panicked staff member of the pool. However, when the ambulance crew arrived, they discovered that it was a lifeguard that was in trouble.

“A pool patron, a kid, came up to the lifeguard on duty yelling that there was somebody at the bottom of the deep end.” Janet Rosamond, the pool director told reporters. “The lifeguard thought she saw a form at the bottom of the pool and immediately dove in. While underwater searching for the victim, she was overcome and inhaled water into her lungs. Emergency services pulled her from the pool and revived her.”

No victim other than the lifeguard has been found and it is believed that the initial report was a mistake. The lifeguard has not been identified and but Rosamond stated that she is expected to make a full recovery.

The community pool is staffed by professional lifeguards. Every year, emergency services personnel to dozens of incidents at the pool, ranging from cuts and falls to near drownings. However, the pool’s only loss of life occurred in August of 2003 when several teenagers broke into the pool after hours and one accidentally drowned. Alcohol is believed to have been involved in the incident.

The Real Scoop

This wasn’t just a case of an overactive imagination and too much chlorine. The kid and lifeguard really did see someone at the bottom of the pool. The someone in question has been dead for a while and he’d like to have company.

Back in 2003, Anthony “Tony” Grogan was the youngest of a group of juvenile delinquents in Pinebox. The group had liberated some beer from a supermarket and met up with some girls when Grogan suggested they go skinny dipping at the pool. Getting over the fence was easy and soon they were having a grand time. However, things got nasty when Grogan and another boy, Dave Schiff, got in a fight over a girl. Both were pretty drunk and before he knew it, Schiff had held Grogan’s head underwater for a bit too long. The group panicked and ran off, leaving Grogan’s body to settle in the deep end, where it was discovered the next morning.

Grogan is now a Lost Soul, and still a bit of a horndog. His spirit remains lurking beneath the waters of the pool, watching the female patrons and invisibly pawing at them. He recently discovered that he could make himself visible and so attempted to draw an attractive lifeguard into the water and drown her, keeping her with him forever.

Tony Grogan, Lost Soul (ABE)

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor, d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Intimidate d12, Notice d4, Swimming d12, Taunt d6
Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5

Special Abilities
Ethereal, Cluster Attack, Cold Spot, Channel, Electrical Drain, Electrical Malfunction, Fatigue, Fear –2, Reek, Scent, Scream, Telekinesis, Visible Form (in water only), Voice, Whisper