A 31-year-old U.S. Army captain and West Point instructor died while scuba diving at a quarry lake near Bethlehem, in Northampton County, with the academy confirming his death remains under investigation and its cause still unknown. Stephen O. Adjei was training with a group of divers from the U.S. Military Academy at Lake Hydra, a 55-acre former limestone quarry that draws scuba enthusiasts from across the mid-Atlantic.
Who Was Stephen O. Adjei
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Adjei was originally from Ghana and had lived in Worcester, Massachusetts, before his work brought him to West Point, located in New York state. He had worked with the military academy since 2024, serving as an instructor within the institution. Records from the U.S. Military Academy show he was commissioned through the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Dubuque, Iowa, in May 2017, and later served in West Point’s Department of Military Instruction as an MS100 instructor and branch representative.
Joe Katz said Adjei’s dedication, his commitment to teammates, and his service left a lasting impact on the West Point community, per the same report. West Point divers were one of several diving groups present at Lake Hydra at the time, the outlet’s reporting notes.
About 140 People Were at the Lake That Day
Roughly 140 people were at Lake Hydra on the day of the incident, the station’s report states, in a lake that reaches a maximum depth of 100 feet. Divers routinely descend to around 60 feet at the site, and overcast weather made visibility difficult at those depths, the outlet reports. The quarry, previously known as Dutch Springs, also holds submerged airplanes, a helicopter, and a school bus on its bottom, along with large fish and wildlife, per the same account.
Dave Barnes, who runs Scubadelphia Diveseekers in Philadelphia, sent divers to help search once he learned a diver was missing, the article notes. Among those who responded were a paramedic and a physician from Philadelphia among his students, who helped render aid to Adjei once he reached shore, per the same reporting.
Lake Hydra’s Rules and a Clean Safety Record Since 2022
Lake Hydra owner Ken Kraft said the site has not recorded a diving death since he took it over in 2022, adding that diving involves inherent risks, according to the outlet’s report. Kraft also said the facility is open only for training, not to the general public, and requires a professional to be with each diver in training at all times…