Hawaii
Pregnant mom, husband drown on Hawaii vacation, leaving behind their 18-month-old son
Young parents to an 18-month-old son and an unborn baby girl tragically drowned Saturday while vacationing in Hawaii.
Washington residents Ilya and Sophia Tsaruk — who was pregnant with their second child — died in the waters off Maui while swimming in the tropical paradise, according to the local fire department and their loved ones.
Maui firefighters and ocean rescue teams were called to respond to a report of “swimmers/snorkelers in distress” at Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve just after noon, the department said.
The emergency responders found Sophia, 26, unresponsive in the water and rushed her to shore where firefighters administered CPR.
They were told she was with her husband — who was nowhere to be found — and headed back into the ocean to search for him.
Ilya, 25, was soon found at the bottom of the sea roughly 100 to 150 yards from shore, fire officials said. He was carried back to land, where emergency teams began CPR on him as well.
But neither Sophia or Ilya began breathing again. They were pronounced dead at the beach — with Sophia’s unborn child also dead, the Maui County Fire Department said.
The couple leaves behind their 18-month-old son Logan who was staying with his aunt and uncle while his parents were in Maui, according to a GoFundMe campaign created to cover funeral costs.
The young parents were greatly involved in their church and loved God, according to the fundraising page.
“Ilya and Sophia both loved the Lord and were always serving in the church and serving people around them,” Andrey Tupikov wrote in the campaign description in both English and Russian.
“Sophia had the voice of an angel, and together with Ilya, they sang in a worship group in their church.”
The GoFundMe had outraised its $100,000 goal by more than $6,000, as of Tuesday evening.
The donations will be used to cover the cost of transporting Ilya and Sophia’s bodies from Hawaii to Washington state, according to its creator.
“We are blessed to have had both of them in our lives and are left now with the sweet memories and moments that we shared together with them. Their serving spirit and warm company will never be forgotten, and may God help us all to love and serve one another as Ilya and Sophia served,” Tupikov wrote.
The Sony Open in Hawaii has the honors of being the kickoff event to the 2026 PGA Tour season after the cancellation of The Sentry at Kapalua this season.
Instead of Maui, the Tour debuts in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Jan. 15-18, at the Seth Raynor-designed Waialae Country Club, where Nick Taylor prevailed in a playoff over Nico Echavarria last year.
Among the changes this season is the field size, which was reduced from 144 to 120, and, there is no longer is a Monday qualifier offering four spots. Will that help with pace of play? Stay tuned.
The field includes the following notables in addition to Taylor and Echavarria: Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley, Michael Brennan, Corey Conners, Tony Finau, Chris Gotterup, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, Robert MacIntyre, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Sahith Theegala, Gary Woodland and 62-year-old Vijay Singh.
Here’s the full field for the Sony Open, which will be live on Golf Channel all four days as well as NBC with early-round coverage on Saturday and Sunday.
This year’s Sony purse is $9.1 million and the winner also will receive 500 FedEx Cup points.
HAWAII ISLAND (HawaiiNewsNow) – The County of Hawaii Department of Parks and Recreation is now accepting applications for temporary positions in its 2026 Summer Fun program.
The two positions available are Activity Aide I ($17.50 per hour) and Activity Aide II ($19 per hour).
To be considered for employment, applicants must possess a valid first-aid certification, attend mandatory training June 2–5, and be available to work June 8–July 17.
Applications are available online on the Parks and Recreation website, and must be submitted to the Recreation Division Office at 799 Pi‘ilani St., Hilo, HI 96720, postmarked by Saturday, Feb. 28.
For more information, call the Recreation Division Office at (808) 961-8740.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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