http://www.boston.com/dailynews/247/nation/Man_dies_after_sinking_into_ce:.shtml

Man dies after sinking into cesspool in back yard; body recovered 18 hours later

By Associated Press, 9/4/2001 08:11

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (AP) A man who had been practicing archery in the back yard with his two children died when his cesspool caved in and swallowed him, police said.

Michael Lobasso, 35, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, was standing on the ground above the cesspool when it gave way at about 12:40 p.m. Monday, Suffolk County police said.

Searchers located his body a few hours later, but worked throughout the night to remove it because the walls of the 18-foot-deep cesspool were crumbling on top of the quicksand-like pool, police said.

The body was recovered at about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, Detective Sgt. Arthur Ahl said.

''The more they dug, the worse the body actually got stuck,'' he said.

When rescue crews arrived, they found a 3-foot-wide hole that grew to about 15 feet across as they searched, Huntington Manor Fire Chief Charles Hoffman said.

Fire officials told Newsday they didn't see any construction or digging that could have caused the cesspool to cave in.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

Answers

Ee-yew, what a way to go!

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

I don't know much about septic systems, being a believer in public sewer!, but it strikes me if you cleaned out the sucker on a regular basis it might not get deep enough to drown in. Quicksand? Is that what it's supposed to be like?

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

I am reminded of an issue of Mad Magazine which had a story about Sherlock Holmes, in which he would be rushing to different buildings in search of clues, and each time he knocked at the door, was greeted by a largish woman who he would buss very armorously. After said bussing, she would say something to the effect of, "I didn't know you cared, and here I just cleaned the cesspool here, too."

Funny how the mind works...

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

What a weird way to meet your maker. Sucked into a cesspool. I can just see the next round of "scare" movies where people are basically just minding their own business, or engaging in some otherwise healthy activity, and suddenly drop right out of sight before your eyes, sucked ever deeper into cesspools all over the county.

Actually, cesspools are no longer a legal thing here where I live. Septic tanks are everywhere, but not cesspools. A septic tank is a concrete tank, built like a concrete pool, usually about 5 feet deep, with a concrete cover. They hold about 1,000 gallons of "stuff" and even if you fell in it wouldn't be more than a major *yuck* to anyone except a little kid.

Cesspools, however, usually don't have a solid base. They have walls, which may or may not be well constructed, and the "stuff" just drains down through an earthen bottom. I can see how this could develop into a bad situation over time, creating a sort of quagmire around them. Cesspools are cheaper to build but apparently they must be treated with great respect when you are near them. Wonder what that guy did in some previous life to warrant his having to meet this particular end this time around?

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

Add a shark or two, Gordon. . .

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

If I was producing the movie I'd go for something even better than sharks. I'd go for dozens of creatures that look like a horseshoe crab turned upside down. You know how those crabs look on their backs, with all those legs twitching about and grabbing for whatever. Hundreds of those legs, maybe thousands, poking up out of the cesspool "stuff" would be the answer. And then show someone falling into their clutches, screaming their heads off. Lordy, just thinking about it gives me the willies. What a movie it would make!

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

LOLOLOL! Gordon, you're a sick puppy! I knew there was something about you that I liked! ROTF!

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

Gordon, yer busted!

I once wrote an ode to the proud and honorable horseshoe crab. Having trouble remembering all of it, but I got no problemo reporting you to the horseshoe crab anti-defamation league!

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

He was a DEA agent.

This was a hit. Sure as SHT!

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2001

I was kinda wondering if this was a Henry Bowman operation, even though the fire officials didn't see any signs.

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2001