Disturbing leaked audio reveals a survivor’s chilling testimony as she watched an entire family get lost at sea when their tour boat capsized.
Mary, 37, and David Maynard, 42, as well as their two sons, Colton, 11, and Brantley, seven, were aboard a 28-foot aluminum boat with four other people on Aug. 3. when it started to make water. the coast of Homer, Alaska.
Another ship responded to a radio call for help and was able to rescue the other four from a life raft, but the Maynards were never found and are presumed dead.
“They were just gone,” one survivor tearfully told jurors at a presumed death hearing on Sept. 19, according to audio. obtained by KCEN-TV.
“It had to have been, I mean, it was 10 minutes, maybe 10 minutes after we had fun on the boat; the boat rocked like this, tilted to one side and then the engines shut down and only the nose came up.” , said. .
Mary, 37, and David Maynard, 42, as well as their two sons, Colton, 11, and Brantley, seven, were aboard a 28-foot aluminum boat with four other people on Aug. 3. when it started to make water. the coast of homer, alaska
The captain of the tour boat also told the jury that while they were in the water, one of the engines sputtered.
He then saw another fishing boat nearby, so he anchored the boat.
“At one point, David asked me, got my attention and pointed to the back corner of the deck, where there was a drainage hole for water to come up on deck,” the unidentified captain said.
‘He pointed to it and said, “Is that normal?” and I said “no.”
The captain said he then tried to start the engine to raise anchor, but the engine would not start.
The captain went on to say that the last time he saw David was when he was trying to radio for help, and said he didn’t know where the family had gone while he was trying to save his own family and get them on board.
He said he tried to reach the ship’s window, but the ship was sinking too fast as he tried to search for the Maynard.
Another boat responded to a radio call for help and was able to rescue the other four from a life raft, but the Maynards were never found and were presumed dead.
Survivors told a jury in September how the family disappeared within minutes after the boat capsized.
Four other people aboard the tour boat were later rescued by the boat Salty Sea, and the captain reported that the captain of the Salty Sea “asked if there was anyone else, and I said yes, but they didn’t make it off the boat.”
The U.S. Coast then spent more than 30 hours searching for the family off the coast of Alaska for the Texas family, using a helicopter, plane, cutter and two other boats, plus help from Alaska. Wildlife Troopers and Good Samaritan Steamboats. .
But Coast Guard officials said the Maynards had a functional survival time of only 7.1 hours and a cold survival time of 9.7 hours.
The six-person jury ultimately determined that the family of four died as a result of accidental drowning, as their relatives demanded answers.
The six-person jury ultimately determined that the family of four died as a result of accidental drowning, as their relatives demanded answers.
“It’s very frustrating because we have no idea what happened,” said Rhonda Rizzo, David’s aunt. he told KCEN-TV in early September.
“We have no idea what happened and, I mean, we have multiple stories but nothing definitive and it’s just frustrating.”
He noted that he had just spoken to the family the day they disappeared.
“We talked to them that morning,” said the grieving aunt. ‘Colton called that morning and then, boom, we get a call: they’re lost in the seat, the boat capsized. Nobody knows what happened.
Colton suffered from epilepsy for years and underwent brain surgery in 2021.
Rizzo described Colton as having a “heart of gold.”
“He was a beautiful boy,” she said. ‘I mean everyone, he loved everyone, everyone he saw, he gave them a hug.
And Brantley was a bit, as they said, a bit of a spitter.
“He had personality, that’s for sure, he looked a lot like David,” he said.
Both boys played soccer and baseball, and Mary worked as a traveling nurse while David stayed home with their children and ran a lawn care business.
The family has been through a lot already, and Colton suffered from epilepsy for years before undergoing brain surgery in 2021, Mary posted at the time.
The Maynards loved traveling and spending time with family and friends, which is what their friends said they did in Alaska.