June 13, 2003
(ABC NEWS) He helped save nine lives, and then took his own. Robert Long, the engineer who helped rescue nine trapped coal miners, committed suicide Monday night. Long, 37, shot himself outside his home in Somerset County, Pa.
It's unclear what prompted Long to take his life. But after playing a key role in last summer's dramatic rescue, Long became embroiled in a bitter public dispute with the men he helped save. The dispute centered on a controversial movie deal Long had obtained.
Hundreds of rescue workers spent three days working to free the Quecreek Nine, as the miners were called, from a flooded shaft 240 feet below the Earth's surface last July. After the nine miners were fished out of the depths, Long was hailed as a hero.
The media dubbed him the "man behind the miracle." Long, a Global Positioning System technician, used high-tech equipment to find the right spot to send down an air shaft that kept the miners alive while they were underground.