Volunteer divers believe they’ve found the remains of members of the Maynard family, who went missing in Alaska in August 2024.
HOMER, Alaska — The Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery team will attempt to resume recovery operations after finding what is believed to be the boat the Maynard family of Troy, Texas were on when they went missing in August 2024.
The volunteer team said on June 9 that members of the team had departed for Homer, Alaska to catch a small weather window in an attempt to complete search and recovery operations on the boat.
The organization said forecasts for the weather and the sea are “rapidly changing” and they hope to find a good window of time where the waves, tides and current line up in order to make the dives down to the boat, which they say is in 180 feet of water during low tide, and 210-220 in high tide.
David Maynard, 42, his wife Mary, 37, and their two sons, Colton, 11, and Brantley, 7, were aboard a 28-foot aluminum boat with four others when it capsized 16 miles west of Homer Spit, Alaska around 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. The four others on the boat survived and were rescued, but the four members of the Maynard family were listed as missing after several days of searching by authorities were unsuccessful.
On May 28, 2025, the Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery team announced it had found the boat confirmed to be the one the Maynards were using when they went missing. Over two days, the team conducted multiple dives down to the boat and were able to recover three sets of remains, which were sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for positive identification and autopsy.
The team said it is still conducting searches of the remaining area of the boat to search for any other remains.
Jeremy Lilly, current president and founder of the Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team, said the dives are difficult and dangerous, with divers facing strong currents, next to zero visibility, cold water and limited time to conduct searches due to safety concerns.