The family of four that was reported missing after their boat overturned off the coast of Alaska has been believed de.ad, and other passengers on the boat are now sharing their memories of the terrible event. The family was reported missing when their boat capsized.
The survivors of the boat that capsized and left 42-year-old David Maynard, his wife Mary, 37, and their sons, 11-year-old Colton and 7-year-old Brantley, in open waters in the beginning of August have spoken out for the first time in a new audio recording of a court proceeding known as a presumptive passing hearing. This recording was obtained by a local Texas outlet called KCEN-TV.
During the hearing, which is performed when a person is presumed to be de ad but there is no concrete evidence of their loss: “They were just gone,” said a survivor who wished to remain nameless. It had to have been—I mean, it was ten minutes, maybe ten minutes, from where we were having fun to where we were going to be on the boat… After the yacht rolled like this and toppled over onto its side, the engines were turned off, and the only thing that remained was the nose up.
Shannon Kearney, a public relations specialist with the United States Coast Guard, had previously verified to People that the family of four was aboard a 28-foot aluminum boat when it began to take on water on August 3 at around 7 p.m. local time. They were on vacation in Alaska at the time. According to Kearney, there were four other people aboard the boat with them at the time. He said that the four other people had been rescued from a life raft after the “Coast Guard issued a radio broadcast to notify local vessels of the situation.” Kearney also mentioned that the four other people had recovered from the life raft.
During the course of the hearing, the captain of the boat related to the jury that when they were out on the water, one of the engines failed, and he moored the vessel. The jury consisted of six individuals.
“We were just finishing up and hanging out and cooking hot dogs and hamburgers,” the captain said, as reported by KCEN to the television station.
“At one point in time. “David asked me, which allowed him to get my attention, and he pointed to the back corner of the deck, where there was a drain hole for water that would come up and get on deck,” the skipper added. “As he pointed to it, he demanded to know, ‘Is that normal?’ At that time, I responded with a negative response, walked inside the cabin, and was about to start the engine in order to raise the anchor; however, the engines refused to start, and I continued to attempt.
In addition, the captain of the boat testified that he had lost sight of the Maynards at one point in time when he was attempting to assist some members of his own family. According to him, he attempted to assist the Maynards by reaching inside the boat via an open window; nevertheless, the vessel was rapidly sinking under his intervention.
“Mary walked between the two of us…and I said, ‘Are you afraid?’ and she said, ‘Yes.'” The unnamed survivor testified through tears as she described the minutes that transpired before to the boat toppling over.
They stated that the captain and other survivors were able to take out a life raft before the vessel went under water, and that they were finally picked up by another boat.
Furthermore, throughout the course of the hearing, the Coast Guard said that they had spent more than thirty hours looking for the family. A “functional survival time” of 7.1 hours and a “cold survival time” of 9.7 hours were also mentioned by the Maynards, according to the information provided.
According to KCEN-TV, the six members of the jury finally came to the conclusion that the family of four is assumed to have perished as a consequence of drowning in an accident.
“The decision to suspend a search is never easy and involves the careful consideration of many factors including environmental conditions and search operations,” Kearney said in an earlier interview with PEOPLE before confirming that the Coast Guard had halted their search after twenty-four hours.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the family, friends and loved ones of the missing people during this unimaginably difficult time,” Kearney said in addition.
Over twenty-one thousand dollars have been contributed to a GoFundMe page that was established to assist the family in dealing with unforeseen costs.