An entire family, including two young sons, is lost at sea after the boat they were on capsized and sank off the coast of Alaska in freezing waters.
Mary and David Maynard, as well as their two sons, 11-year-old Colton and seven-year-old Brantley, were on a 28-foot aluminum vessel with four others on Saturday when it began taking on water around 7pm, according to Travis Magee, a spokesman for the US Coast Guard.
It radioed for help, and the ship Salty Sea responded and was able to rescue four others from a life raft, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
The Coast Guard has since been searching the waters off the coast of Homer for the family from Texas, using a helicopter, plane, cutter and two other vessels – in addition to help from the Alaska Wildlife Troopers and good Samaritan steam boats.
But search efforts were suspended at around 6pm on Sunday.
Mary and David are both from Troy, Texas and raised their sons there, Christi Wells told the Anchorage Daily News.
She noted that Colton and Brantley both played soccer and baseball, and said that Mary, 37, worked as a traveling nurse while David, 42, stayed home with their children and ran a lawn care business.