Missing fisherman’s family posts GoFundMe for 2-year-old son

A GoFundMe page has been started for a 2-year-old boy whose father, a fisherman, is believed to have been on the Seattle-based fishing boat missing since Saturday.

Former captain: Survival after capsizing in Bering Sea rare

Darrik Seibold, 36, was among the six crew members aboard the FV Destination crab boat that vanished in the Bering Sea. The Coast Guard ended its search for the boat and its crew Tuesday.

“It is very, very difficult,” Darrik’s step-mother Jan Ward-Seibold told the Ron and Don Show. “And certainly not just for our family, but for all the families who had crew members on that boat.”

His son Eli will turn 3 on Saturday.

“(Darrik) is a very handsome individual with big brown eyes and a crooked little grin that could melt anyone’s heart,” Ward-Seibold said. “And Eli was the love of his life. Darrik was very, very proud of his little boy and cherishes him.”

Missing fisherman and his son

Darrik’s son Eli lives in Sand Point, a remote part of Alaska. As of 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, $830 had been reached toward a $20,000 goal.

“It is our goal to help little Eli flourish despite the fact that he will have to grow up without his daddy, but we will always want him to remember the rugged work that Darrik did and how brave he was to battle the forces of nature,” Ward-Seibold said.

“Eli is a beautiful little boy, and active little boy, and Darrik just absolutely adored him,” she said. “Recently, the boat came into port up at Sand Point, Alaska on Super Bowl weekend. Amber, his girlfriend (Eli’s mother), was telling me today that it was unusual. But they had done some cod fishing, and the captain decided to come into port before they set out for this last venture.”

“So he was able to spend some time — he and Amber and Eli went to the beach,” she said. “She had taken some great pictures, but unfortunately she used Darrik’s cell phone to take them … she will always remember how special that extra time was they had together, that they normally don’t have during this time of year.”

Ward-Seibold said Darrik graduated from North Thurston High School, just outside of Olympia.

“When he was at North Thurston he was a football player,” Ward-Seibold said. “He played both offense and defense because he’s very athletic.”

He split time between Anchorage and Seattle during fishing season. She said Darrik was discharged from the Army because of an Achilles injury, which is why he became a fisherman and also worked in construction with his dad. Darrik had worked in the fishing industry for the last 7-8 years, she said, but had told his family this was going to be one of his last fishing trips, since he knew how dangerous it was and wanted to get out of the industry.

“I know Darrik had confidence in his boat and crew,” she said. “He entrusted his life to the crew on each and every trip just as they entrusted theirs to him.”

“The boat is well respected, it was well-maintained and the crew was very experienced and nobody has an explanation for what happened,” Ward-Seibold said.

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