A family of four who went missing after their boat capsized off the coast of Alaska has been officially declared dead, nearly two months after the tragic incident.
David Maynard, 42, his wife Mary, 37, and their two sons, Colton, 11, and Brantley, 7, disappeared on August 3 when their 28-foot boat overturned about 16 miles off the coast of Homer Spit, according to a report by KCEN-TV News.
While four others on the boat were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Maynard family was never found, despite a 30-hour search.
One of the survivors recalled the suddenness of the accident, stating, “It had to have been 10 minutes, maybe 10 minutes from us having fun to the boat tipping. The engines went down, and just the nose was up.”
A family of four from Texas remains missing after their boat capsized during their vacation in Alaska.
— Chloe James (@Chloe_19_86) August 6, 2024
On Saturday, Aug. 3, David Maynard, his wife Mary, and their two sons, Colton and Brantley, were sailing near the city of Homer on a 28-foot aluminum boat pic.twitter.com/TkkHCKN8Za
On September 19, a six-member jury officially declared the Maynard family dead during a presumptive death hearing, a legal process used to determine the fate of missing persons presumed to have died. This decision was made following the tragic capsizing incident, as reported by records newly obtained by KCEN.
During the presumptive death hearing, the captain of the ill-fated boat testified about the engine failure and the subsequent decision to anchor the vessel. He recalled that David Maynard noticed something was wrong.
“At one point, David got my attention and pointed to the back corner of the deck, where there was a drain hole for water that had started to accumulate,” the captain, who was not named, testified. This observation came just before the tragic events unfolded.
“He pointed to it and asked, ‘Is that normal?’ I replied, ‘No,’” the captain recounted. “At that point, I went into the cabin to get ready to start the engine and pull up the anchor, but the engines wouldn’t start no matter how many times I tried.”
As the boat began to sink, the captain stated that he went to rescue his own family and lost sight of the Maynard family, who vanished in the frigid waters.
