Oklahoma couple found 36 hours after disappearing while diving in Gulf of Mexico
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EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) — Wednesday morning, a couple from Oklahoma disappeared while scuba diving off the coast of Texas. After 36 hours of searching, authorities were ready to give up.
Then, a miracle happened.
Nathan and Kim Maker of Edmond, Oklahoma, dive often, Nathan’s uncle, Charles Owen, told NewsNation affiliate KFOR. The couple has always taken their precautions.
The Makers were scuba diving with a group in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday morning when they disappeared.
“There was a storm moving in and the divers had all surfaced and was going to prepare to get back on the boat,” Owen explained. “As the 16 got in, in the meantime, the swell comes in and engulfed all of them.”
Nathan and Kim inflated their safety devices to come to the surface, but the storm was too much — and they were gone.
Owen said it was around 7 p.m. Wednesday when the Coast Guard called, saying the couple had disappeared earlier that morning.
The search was on from there, with rescue crews searching an expansive 1,656 sq. mile-grid in the Gulf.
Roughly 36 hours later, Owen said he was told authorities were close to calling off their search after looking over the entire grid.
“We’d already practically given up hope,” Owen recounted.
Then, a miracle: a plane, which Owen said was on its last run outside the grid late Thursday night, caught a glimpse of something.
“Nathan and Kim had their diving flashlights and they were doing the S.O.S. to point at the plane’s bottom,” Owen said.
New video from the Coast Guard aircraft spotted two figures around 20 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico early Friday morning. Those figures were Nathan and Kim Maker.
The plane saw them on one last pass. Then the boats came to the rescue.
“It’s a miracle,” Owen said.
He told KFOR that Kim has an infection and Nathan was almost in a diabetic coma when they found him. Both were very dehydrated and had suffered multiple jellyfish stings. The family hopes Kim and Nathan will be able to return home soon.
“We thank everybody for their concerns and their prayers,” Owen said. “This miracle was performed by the Coast Guard at God’s direction.”
