Alaska State Troopers say a fourth set of human remains were recovered this week from the site of a boat that sank near Homer last summer.
A Wednesday dispatch says troopers believe the four sets of remains belong to the Maynard family: 42-year-old David, 37-year-old Mary, 11-year-old Colton and 8-year-old Brantley. All members of the Waco, Texas, family were declared missing after the boat sank. Good Samaritans rescued four other people who’d been on the boat with the Maynards.
Wednesday’s recovery comes about two weeks after troopers announced the first three sets of remains were removed from the wreckage site. All remains were sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for positive identification and autopsy.
The U.S. Coast Guard called off its search for the Maynards within 24 hours of the boat sinking. Guardsmen used a plane, a helicopter, a cutter and other boats but didn’t find anyone. A Homer jury issued presumptive death certificates for all members of the Maynard family last fall.
But then, earlier this year, a trio of private companies reactivated the search. Their efforts were spearheaded by Dave Mastolier, the president of Homer-based Support Vessels of Alaska. He saw a news article about a fundraiser organized by the Maynards’ surviving family in Texas. The family was raising money to send a search team to Alaska to find the wreckage.
Mastolier reached out to the organizers and said he could help them find the boat – and do it for free.
He brought on Benthic Geosciences to help find the boat. It was about 180 feet underwater, roughly 14 nautical miles west of Homer. The boat was anchored when it sank, so the wreckage was found fairly close to the boat’s last known location. Vision Subsea sent a robot to the wreckage to verify the boat’s registration numbers and take pictures of the layout for divers.
Then, the volunteer-run Alaska Dive, Search, Rescue and Recovery Team sent divers to the wreckage. Divers planned trips to the site around tides, weather and their availability. This week, divers had a weather window and returned to the wreckage, where they found and recovered the fourth set of human remains.
Jeremy Lilly is the group’s founder and president. He said Thursday his team achieved their primary mission of recovering the Maynards, and won’t return to the wreckage site unless requested by the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
The Alaska Dive, Search, Rescue and Recovery Team shared updates on their efforts throughout the week. In one picture shared, divers in neon yellow jackets sit on the edge of a red boat. The boat kicks up white sea spray as the crew heads toward the mountains. Behind them, a rainbow bends from the clouds to the bay.
