Harrowing leaked audio from a presumptive death hearing has shed light on the tragic final moments of the Maynard family, who were lost at sea after their tour boat capsized off the coast of Alaska in August. Mary and David Maynard, aged 37 and 42, along with their two sons, Colton (11) and Brantley (7), are presumed dead after the aluminum tour boat they were on capsized near Homer, Alaska, told The Mirror.
The 28-foot vessel, carrying the Maynards and four others, reportedly took on water and capsized. Though the boat radioed for help, and another ship responded, only four people were rescued. The Maynards were nowhere to be found. “They were just gone,” one survivor told a jury at the September 19 presumptive death hearing, according to KCEN-TV. “It was 10 minutes, maybe, from us having fun to the boat tipping and sinking.”
The tour boat’s captain testified that the trouble started when one of the engines sputtered, prompting him to anchor and call for help from a nearby fishing boat. David Maynard noticed water pooling at a drain hole on the deck and asked if it was normal. The captain replied, “No,” and attempted to restart the engine and pull the anchor, but it wouldn’t start.
As the boat began to sink rapidly, the captain said he was focused on getting his own family onto the life raft and did not see what happened to the Maynards. The nearby ship, the Salty Sea, arrived minutes later and rescued the others, but the Maynard family was missing.
Authorities, including the U.S. Coast Guard and Alaska Wildlife Troopers, launched a 30-hour search for the Texas family using helicopters, planes, cutters, and other vessels. Despite their efforts, no trace of the family was found. According to the Coast Guard, the functional survival time in the water was just over 7 hours, while cold survival time was less than 10 hours.
On September 19, a jury determined that the Maynards had died by accidental drowning. However, the family’s relatives are still seeking answers. Rhonda Rizzo, David’s aunt, expressed her frustration: “We have no idea what happened. We’ve heard multiple stories, but nothing definitive.”
Rizzo fondly remembered Colton as having a “heart of gold” and Brantley as a “little spitfire” with a vibrant personality. The Maynards were a close-knit family, with Mary working as a travel nurse and David running a lawn care business while caring for their children. The family loved to travel and spend time with loved ones, and tragically, they were doing just that when they went missing in Alaska.