A Texas sheriff said Thursday that three hog hunters from Florida died in an underground tank filled with sewer gas after one of them apparently tried rescuing their dog after it fell into the hole, followed by the other two jumping in to save them.

The bodies of two men and a woman, as well as the dog, were pulled from the tank in a cornfield on the rural outskirts of Austin. Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook said the hole was a cistern with an opening roughly 4 feet wide and containing 8 feet of water, as well as hydrogen sulfide gas.

He said the chain of events started early Wednesday in the middle of the night with one of the men apparently getting into the cistern to rescue the dog, which he described as a bloodhound. Clothing and boots belonging to the other two hunters were found near the hole, suggesting they removed them before also jumping in, Cook said.

He said authorities believe the hunters were overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas in the hole and sank to the bottom.

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"There was no cover. This was just an open hole in the middle of a cornfield," Cook said.

The victims were identified as Delvys Garcia, 37; Denise Martinez, 26; and Noel Vigil-Benitez, 45. All were from Florida.

Cook said the cistern had a "high level" of hydrogen sulfide. He said stagnating water and the decay of other animals that previously died in the cistern could create levels that would be deadly.

The hunting party included a fourth person, from Texas, who did not go into the hole. Cook said that hunter told authorities the dog escaped from their truck and that they tracked it using a device on the dog's collar.

Efforts to recover the bodies were hampered by concerns from dive teams about the gas and the integrity of the structure's walls, he said. The tank had "strong fumes, similar to those of a septic tank, coming from the cistern," according to a statement from the sheriff's office.

Linebacker Myles Jack spent nearly five months on the free-agent market before he finally signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, along with fellow linebacker Zach Cunningham.

Jack spent last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers before moving across the Keystone State. He had 104 tackles in 15 games. However, as the days and weeks grew, Jack was thinking about starting down a new path.

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"I like to work. I couldn’t sit at home. I’ve been blessed to make a lot of money. I could retire and sit at the house," he told The Athletic, adding that he was thinking about going to trade school to become an electrician or a plumber.

"I want to be innovative. If a Zombie apocalypse came, I want to be able to build something," he said.

Jack was a second-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016. He started 10 of his first 16 appearances and recorded 24 tackles with two passes defended in his rookie year. He quickly became one of the core units on Jacksonville’s defense.

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He was the last of the famed "Sacksonville Defense" to be released after the 2021 season.

In four of the last five seasons, he has recorded at least 100 total tackles. He has 6.5 sacks over the course of his seven-year NFL career.

Should Jack make the team for the 2023 season, he would add immense depth to an already scary Eagles defense. Haason Reddick, Nakobe Dean and Nicholas Morrow are predicted to be the starters.

Philly’s defense was second in yards allowed and eighth in points allowed last season. The Eagles made it all the way to Super Bowl LVII before suffering a close loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.