A father-of-two and husband penned a heartbreaking final social media post before the family’s boat capsized while they vacationed in Alaska and were left lost at sea.
David Maynard last Tuesday shared photos on Facebook of nature in Alaska including mountains and a bear.
‘After four days in Alaska, I FINALLY got to see my first bear!!!!’ he wrote.
‘No picture can ever show just how beautiful this place truly is!!!!!’
Days later, on Saturday, the Maynards’ boat tipped over about 14 miles west of the Homer Spit, KTUU reported.
His wife, Mary Maynard, an their two sons Colton, 11, and Brantley, 7, of Texas, were among eight people aboard the 28-foot aluminum vessel.
The US Coast Guard received a mayday call around 7pm on Saturday, Petty Officer Shannon Kearney told the Anchorage Daily News.
Four people were pulled from the ocean onto the Salty Sea vessel using a life raft, but the Maynards were not found, according to the Coast Guard.
‘This sweet family of four was lost at sea on their vacation to Alaska,’ wrote Tanashea Aviles in a GoFundMe page.
The Coast Guard suspended search efforts on Sunday, after deploying two response boats, a helicopter and a Hercules airplane crew.
They went missing two days before school started for the children, My San Antonio reported.
‘The Maynard’s left a huge imprint on many people, from the laughter they brought to us, the love and family-oriented connection they provided,’ Aviles wrote.
‘It is indescribable the void that will be left behind but I know if we come together as a family and a community they would know how much they meant to everyone.’
Mary’s parents continue to hope their loved ones will be found, according to the GoFundMe page.
‘We need God to work a miracle in finding these four beautiful individuals,’ a family friend, Jennifer York, wrote on Facebook.
‘Please lift Mary’s mom Charlotte and the whole family in your prayers during this difficult time.’
The GoFundMe page had raised more than $12,000 as of Tuesday evening.
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