The survivor of a capsized boat is detailing the heartbreaking moment that a family of four disappeared under the waters in Alaska. Authorities presume that the family of four is dead.
42-year-old David Maynard and his wife Mary, 37, and their sons, 11-year-old Colton and 7-year-old Brantley have been missing since the boat went under in August. Now, a survivor is speaking out via Texas outlet KCEN-TV about the accident.
"They were just gone," one anonymous survivor said. They spoke during a hearing to declare the family dead following the boat capsizing. "It had to have been, I mean, it was 10 minutes, maybe 10 minutes from us having fun to the boat ... the boat rolled like this, tipped on its side, and then the engines went down and just the nose up."
The family of four were on the boat on August 3. They were vacationing in Alaska. Four other people were also on board. The Coast Guard rescued these four from a lift raft. But the family was missing. Officials said, "Coast Guard issued a radio broadcast to notify local vessels of the situation."
According to the captain, the engines went out while they were on the water.
"We were just finishing and hanging out and cooking hot dogs and hamburgers," the captain testified, per KCEN-TV.
Boat Sinks
"At one point. David asked me, got 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 captain continued. "He pointed to it and he said, 'Is that normal?' I said 'no' at that point, went into the cabin and I just got ready to fire up the engine to pull anchor, but engines wouldn't start and I kept trying."
The captain admitted that he became preoccupied with saving his own family. When the boat was sinking, he tried to reach into a window to help them. However, the ship was going down quickly. A survivor said, "Mary walked between the two of us...and I said, 'Are you afraid?' and she said, 'Yes.'"
The rest of the survivors escaped on the life raft. The Coast Guard ended up searching for the family for 30 hours. Unfortunately, they failed to find them. Now, officials have ruled the family dead.
U.S. Coast Guard's public affairs specialist Shannon Kearney said, "The decision to suspend a search is never easy and involves the careful consideration of many factors including environmental conditions and search operations."
"Our deepest condolences go out to the family, friends and loved ones of the missing people during this unimaginably difficult time," Kearney added.
