The pregnant wife of a South Carolina boater who has gone missing has asked people to “stop” donating to the family’s GoFundMe because of the “drama and rumors” that have been going around about his disappearance.
Tyler Doyle, 23 years old, hadn’t been seen since January 26, when the boat he was on to hunt ducks sank near North Myrtle Beach.
“Due to the rumors and everything going around … Lakelyn [Doyle] wants me to stop all donations,” family friend Hannah Faulk wrote in an update to the GoFundMe over the weekend.
“She [would] rather go without, then to deal with drama and rumors while she’s actively searching for her missing husband … as a [woman who is] 30 weeks pregnant she can’t handle everyone’s opinion and stress on her body for the baby’s sake.”
It is unclear exactly what rumors prompted the plea for donations to stop, but the same day the update was posted, Tyler’s brother, Reed Doyle, also posted on Facebook about “everyone who’s out there spreading rumors about my brother.”
“I’m stressed and so is my entire family. I’m done dealing with people that want to start rumors when they don’t even know him, don’t know what we’ve had to be put through this past week,” he ranted.
Even though Lakelyn Doyle asked for help, donations kept coming in.
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The goal of $15,000 for the fundraiser was set in the days after her husband went missing. As of Friday morning, more than double that amount had been raised.
Newsweek says a second passenger on the ship was saved a few hours after it sank, but Tyler is still missing.
Meanwhile, two days after Reed posted about “rumors” on Facebook, the brother took to TikTok to slam a phony account impersonating him under the guise of asking for donations.
“[It’s] amazing the extent people will go to to receive a handout,” he captioned the furious post.
The GoFundMe update said that the search for Tyler was still going on this week.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said this week that several sheriff’s departments, including two in North Carolina, are helping to search the beaches. Tweet gave below-
As of today, Feb. 8, our officers and the Brunswick County (N.C.) Sheriff's Office continue to search by boat for Tyler Doyle. The Holden Beach and Sunset Beach police departments, both in North Carolina, continue to search the beach during daylight hours.
(1 of 3) pic.twitter.com/6yUNk8YKJq— S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources (@SCDNR) February 8, 2023
No formal missing persons report has been filed, DNR spokesperson Greg Lucas told WBTW, noting officials have “no reason to believe at this time that Tyler Doyle is anywhere but in the water.”
Tyler, from Loris, loved speedway racing, and hetyler doyle missing boater and Lakelyn had been married since December 2021. Facebook posts from the months before he went missing show that the couple is having a girl, whom they have named Paisley Grace.
In a brief statement to WMBF News Thursday, Tyler’s family asked the community for “prayers during this time.”