A Texas couple and their two young sons are feared dead after their boat went down in frigid waters off the coast of southern Alaska over the weekend.
David Maynard, 42, and his wife Mary, 37, from Troy, and their two sons, 11-year-old Colton and 7-year-old Brantley, were sailing near the city of Homer on a 28-foot aluminum boat when it started to take on water Saturday night, Travis Magee, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard told the Anchorage Daily News on Monday.
Officials said they received an urgent distress call around 7 p.m., prompting a desperate search for the family as well the four others onboard the vessel at the time.
By the time crews arrived on the scene, a ship called the Salty Sea was already trying to help those aboard the sinking ship. Magee said four people were rescued from a life raft and appeared physically unharmed. No further details about their conditions were provided.
The search for the Maynards however dragged into Sunday evening, before the Coast Guard decided to suspend their efforts, which included a helicopter, plane, cutter and two other vessels. The Alaska Wildlife Troopers and good Samaritan boats also assisted.
According to local reports, the water was just 52 degrees when the boat went down.
“Any time we make a decision to suspend a search and rescue case is a very difficult one to make,” the Coast Guard’s public affairs specialist Shannon Kearney told KCEN-TV,
“Cases that are suspended, they’re only suspended pending the development of new information,” Kearney continued. “If anything comes to light, any new information that we get, we’re more than happy and willing to go out and continue our search.”
Mary Maynard, 37, was a traveling nurse and David Maynard, 42, stayed at home with the children and had a lawn care business. They were reportedly visiting family and friends in Alaska when their boat sank.
With News Wire Services
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