Heartbreaking Call Made to Search for Family Whose Boat Overturned in Alaska

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A “lovers” couple and their two sons are presumed dead after their boat capsized in freezing Arctic waters last weekend. Anchorage Daily News reported.

U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Travis Magee confirmed that the service received a distress call sent at around 7 p.m. on Aug. 3 from a 28-foot aluminum vessel that had begun taking on water. The waves were reportedly about two feet and winds were less than five knots when the boat began to sink.

Another boat, the Salty Sea, picked up the call and arrived on the scene about 10 miles from Homer, AK. There, they found four of the eight passengers from the sinking ship huddled together in a lifeboat. They were uninjured.

The Coast Guard continued to search for the remaining four passengers, identified as Mary and David Maynard and their two sons, ages 11 and 7. Efforts resumed Sunday with the help of a helicopter, a plane and a cutter and two other vessels, but the search was called off at 6 p.m.

“Whenever we make the decision to suspend a search and rescue incident, it's a very difficult decision,” said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kerney KCEN-TV“The cases that are suspended are only suspended until new information is developed. If anything comes to light, if we get any new information, we are more than happy and willing to go out and continue our search. We are with the families who are grieving at this time.”

On Sunday night, family friend Stetson Chase shared an update on Facebook with the permission of Mary Maynard's mother, asking her followers to pray for the missing family. “I'm asking for prayers from everyone possible,” Chase wrote. “I think I can tell many that they were a wonderful, caring, loving family and they deserve to be brought home. As her mother said, prayers are all we have.”

The Maynard family, avid travelers from Troy, TX, were in Alaska to visit friends. Mary Maynard worked as a traveling nurse, while David was a stay-at-home dad and owned his own lawn care business.

As of Monday, the Coast Guard was unable to provide additional details about the search or Maynards' vessel. The service did not immediately respond to a request for comment Men's Magazine.

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