Pregnant Mom and Husband Who Both Drowned While Snorkeling in Maui Were on Their Babymoon
"They were planning to name her Melody because they both sang," one victim's sister revealed of the couple's unborn baby
The husband and wife who drowned while snorkeling during their Hawaii vacation on Sept. 14 were celebrating their babymoon, according to a report.
Local news station KITV reported that Ilya "Billy" Tsaruk and Sophia Kovalevich Tsaruk were celebrating the future arrival of their second baby in Maui at the time of their deaths. Per a GoFundMe page, the couple was already parents to an 18-month-old child, Logan.
"[Sophia's] birthday is the day after Christmas," the pregnant woman's sister Ilona Tsymbalyuk told KITV. "She was always talking about how she might deliver this baby girl that she was dreaming about on her birthday. They were planning to name her Melody because they both sang."
"Sophia had the voice of an angel, and together with Ilya, they sang in a worship group in their church," their relatives wrote on the couple's GoFundMe page.
The fundraiser surpassed its initial goal of $100,000, before setting a new goal of $200,000. The funds, in part, will be used to pay to transport their bodies from Maui to Washington, and to cover funeral costs.
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"Remaining funds, after all transport and funeral expenses, will be responsibly allocated and put away to help facilitate little Logan's future life," a statement on the GoFundMe page read.
It continued, "There are so many hurdles that we foresee in making sure that he is taken care of in every way, and we are so thankful that so many people have opened their hearts to help."
The Maui County Fire Department confirmed they had found a 26-year-old female "in the water" and a 25-year-old male "located on the bottom 100 to 150 yards from shore" and performed CPR on both people.
"Ultimately resuscitation efforts proved to be unsuccessful, and both parties were pronounced deceased at the scene by EMS," they said on Facebook .
The burial services for the couple and "Baby Melody" will be in Everett, Wash., on Sept. 27, after their celebration of life in Mukilteo on Sept. 26.
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