Texas Family of 4 Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes in Alaska

A Texas couple along with their two young children are feared to have died after a boat they were traveling on capsized and sank off a remote coastline of Alaska in frigid 51-degree water.

The US Coast Guard was alerted around 7 p.m. Saturday when the 28-foot aluminum boat carrying 8 passengers sent a distress call. The boat had begun taking on water and desperately needed rescue, roughly 16 miles off the coast of Homer, Alaska.

4 passengers were saved from a life raft, but the family from Texas was never located. Mary Maynard, David Maynard, and their sons 11-year-old Colton and 7-year-old Brantley remain lost at sea. The Coast Guard launched a search and rescue for the family using a plane, a helicopter, two other vessels, and help from Good Samaritans and the Alaska wildlife troops to scan the area for the family, but efforts were unfortunately suspended around 6 p.m. the following day.

The family was very excited about their trip to Alaska. Several posts on David Maynard's Facebook page show they were enjoying the trip of a lifetime before it came to this horrific end. Family and friends of the Maynards are understandably devastated and in disbelief that anything like this could have ever happened.

Our station sends love and light to all those affected by this tragedy.

If you're feeling blue after reading such a tragic story, I'm sorry. I'm right there with you. Keep scrolling for 5 feel-good stories out of Texas that will help brighten your day.