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Search for diver now recovery, not rescue

Search crews have had no luck in their attempts to find Ashley Mauldin, who disappeared Monday during a 40-minute dive off Hudson Beach.

By MALLORY SIMON and APRIL YEE
Published July 12, 2006

SPRING HILL - Nobody was home, and 7-year-old Matthew Galasso knew why. His neighbor, Ashley Mauldin, was "underwater," he said.

The 28-year-old woman, who didn't come up after a 40-minute dive off Hudson Beach on Monday, had not yet been found by Tuesday evening.

"Because of how long she has been missing, her oxygen tank would be long depleted," said Doug Tobin, the Pasco County sheriff's spokesman. "It is now a recovery effort for us."

The Coast Guard, Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission, Clearwater Fire Rescue and the Pasco County Sheriff's Office continued the search for the novice diver on Tuesday.

With a 47-foot rescue boat, two Jayhawk helicopters, C-130 search planes and more, the team covered 268 square miles, according to the Coast Guard. The Pasco County sheriff deployed 13 searchers alone.

"We plan on doing it as long as we can Tuesday and will probably continue (today)," Tobin said. "They plan on staying out there as long as they can, weather permitting."

The Coast Guard got a call Monday at 2:53 p.m. from Berry Hucks, who said he was captain of the 23-foot pleasure boat My Millie II. Mauldin, who was aboard the boat with her husband, Michael, had gone over the 40-minute dive limit.

The Coast Guard and other would-be rescuers met the boat about 14 miles west of New Port Richey, and started a search. They couldn't find Mauldin.

On Tuesday afternoon, Maudlin's home on Sands Court was deserted. Galasso hung outside as his brother, 12-year-old Joshua Afanador, mowed the lawn across the street.

Galasso called Mauldin "a nice person." He liked to garden with her. Ashley Mauldin and her husband had just given him an old swing set previously belonging to Michael Mauldin's daughter.

On Sunday, Galasso asked Ashley Mauldin to come to dinner.

Galasso's mother, Elke Brotschul, told her son that Mauldin was missing Monday night, after she saw the news on television. Since then, she has seen only Michael Mauldin's red pickup once in the driveway.

"I sit there and hope," said Brotschul, 37. "There's miracles that can happen. But as time goes on, I don't know. I just hope for a miracle, but like I said, as time goes on it doesn't look good."

She's afraid of how her son will react to additional news.

"I told him to say a little prayer."

April Yee can be reached at ayee@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6117.

[Last modified July 11, 2006, 23:59:04]