Loved ones and a church neighborhood are mourning the lack of a pair and their unborn child following the obvious drowning of a pregnant Washington state lady and her husband in Hawaii.
Family identified the couple as Ilya Tsaruk and Sophia Kovalevich of Snohomish, a metropolis about 30 miles north of Seattle.
“She was going to become a girl mom,” her sister-in-law Tia Tsuark, who was with the couple along with her husband Tony Tsuark on trip on the island of Maui after they died, instructed native FOX 13. “They never came back to us.”
Couple who drowned in Maui had been snorkeling, husband discovered 150 yards from shore
According to the Maui Fire Department, about midday on Saturday, firefighters and ocean security personnel responded to a report of swimmers in misery alongside the north facet of Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve.
The company discovered a pair had been snorkeling, and first-responders on a jet ski situated the pregnant 26-year-old woman in the water, took her to shore and commenced CPR. Crews returned to the water and situated her 26-year-old husband on the ocean flooring about 150 yards from shore.
He was additionally introduced to shore the place rescue crews administered CPR.
First responders tried lifesaving measures, the company reported, however the victims have been pronounced lifeless on the scene.
USA TODAY has reached out to the victims household and church.
Couple leaves behind 18-month-old son
The couple attended Sulamita Slavic Church the place household mentioned they sang in a worship group, in accordance to a web based fundraiser.
“We lost a dear sister and brother, daughter and son, and beautiful niece, but we know that heaven received and gained the three of them with open arms,” Roseville, Calif. resident Andrew Tupikov wrote in the fundraiser he created to assist the victims' household, together with an 18-month-old boy named Logan.
“Ilya and Sophia both loved the Lord and were always serving in the church and serving people around the,” Tupikov wrote.
As of Thursday, almost 1,000 folks had donated greater than $134,000 to the fundraiser.
A celebration of life and funeral service, the fundraiser says, are set for Sept. 26 and Sept. 27.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and comply with her on X @nataliealund.
