Missing GF woman has been found off the coast of Honduras
By Shara JJ Cooper
Update
Nine boaters were found safely off the coast of Honduras at 10:30 Wednesday morning after their boat was adrift for four days. The boaters, which included Grand Fork’s local Tasha Brown (20) were on a return trip from Roatan Island to Utila Island — a 29 km journey — when they ran into problems.
They drifted without sufficient supplies before they were spotted by a helicopter about 88 km Northwest of Utila Island. The U.S. Coast Guard worked with the Rescue Coordination Center in Cocesna, Honduras to find the missing group.
The boat did not have an emergency beacon or other safety equipment that would have sped up the rescue procedure.
Original Story
Tasha Brown, a 20-year-old woman that went missing off the coast of Honduras on Saturday, has been found alive.
Brown, originally from Grand Forks, was working as a medic in Fort St. John but took leave to study scuba diving in Honduras. She was staying on the island of Utila but went with her friends — two Americans and five Honduras — on a boat to Roatan Island. It is common for locals to make the trip between the two islands.
When they started their return trip on Saturday, they had trouble and the boat was lost, floating adrift for four days until they were rescued.
Brown’s mother, Natalie Zmurchyk, only found out her daughter was missing on Monday.
“I think they were just so busy looking for her,” she said of Brown’s friends. “If I was there, all I’d be doing was looking for her.”
It’s been hard for Zmurchyk to get word about her daughter, but she found out today that she is safe and was found 65 km west of Roatan.
“I know that she is alive and that she is going to be ok,” said Zmurchyk.
Details about the accident are currently unknown because of the challenges with communication, but Zmurchyk is just relieved that her daughter is alive and hoping to talk to her soon.
Brown is dehydrated but expected to recover. The group, who Zmurchyk describes as young – possibly aged 16 to 25 – were just having a good time on their trip.
She suspects they might have been drinking, which means they would have already been dehydrated before they ran into trouble. “Thankfully, it did rain a couple times. It was also cloudy and wet.”
Zmurchyk cites God as the main reason they were found.
“We have had so many people praying all over the world for the kids,” she said. “Not just our family but everyone’s. We’ve had tons of prayers. God is amazing.”
Brown has been in Honduras since May 4th, and Zmurchyk isn’t sure when she’ll be back in BC. She was expected to come home briefly and then return to finish her scuba diving course.
