CHAMPLIN, Minn. — More than three years ago, David Schink of Champlin went kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico and never returned.
"There was no way to get additional boats looking for him at that time, even though there were lots of people in the harbor," David's wife, Judy Schink, recalled. "Helicopters and the airplanes couldn't fly or see because the fog was so heavy. So they wanted to get boats on the water, but we had no way to contact them."
A three-day search located his kayak and a broken paddle, but David was never found. That was in February 2021.
David's son, Daniel Schink, started to wonder if there could have been a way to get more help and narrow down the search.
"I think that was our sixth year going down to Destin and I knew that we were on the pass between the Gulf and the bay," Daniel said. "It would have really helped the search if there would have been one person on the beach that could have said my father's kayak went left or right... anytime you can narrow it down, the likelihood that you can find somebody increases."
The family teamed up with government agencies to create Aqua Alert. It's essentially an Amber Alert but for missing boaters, kayakers, etc.
In September 2022, Aqua Alert launched a pilot program in Okaloosa County where David disappeared. The city of Destin had given the family approval to move ahead with the project. They also worked with the U.S. Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.
"I never dreamed of having an accident on the water," said DeNell Hendricks.
DeNell and her granddaughters, Andie and Brooklyn Hendricks, were visiting Destin when they decided to rent jet skis. They went out into the Gulf at the East pass; DeNell and Andie were on one jet ski and Brooklyn was on another. DeNell estimates an eight to 10-foot wave knocked them off their jet ski.
DeNell got swept away into the Gulf by an outgoing riptide. Brooklyn attempted to get Andie onto her jet ski. When that was unsuccessful, she went for help. An Aqua Alert notification was then sent out.
A dolphin tour boat responded and went immediately to the area posted in the Aqua Alert. Andie was rescued within 30 minutes. But DeNell was nowhere to be found.
"At one point, I was trying to figure out how my brother would end up telling my mom that I had died," DeNell recalled, saying the waves were relentless.
Brooklyn remembers asking someone with the U.S. Coast Guard what the chances were of her grandma being found.
"That's when they said she probably would not be found and if she was found, she would not be alive. That tore me apart," Brooklyn said.
DeNell spotted helicopters above several times but they always left. The next time she spotted one, she found the strength to lift up her arm to reveal her watch. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission pilot spotted a glimmer from her watch.
Three-and-a-half hours after she first disappeared, DeNell was rescued. She was suffering from hypothermia and the doctor later told her that she would not have lasted another half hour in the water.
"It's instant family. I will owe my life to them because if it wasn't for them and their sacrifice was, I wouldn't be here," DeNell said.
Both families are at the National Life Jacket Convention in Clearwater Beach. They had plans to meet Tuesday but Monday, they spotted each other at the hotel.
"We just sat and hugged each other for two minutes straight. Wonderful, wonderful feeling," Judy said.
Aqua Alert has been used two other times, once to recover the body of a snorkeler and another time it helped rescue a kayaker. The former University of South Carolina quarterback and Alabama high school football coach, Chris Smelley, made news for his rescue in April.
Aqua Alert is going national. It was signed into law December 2022 with the U.s. Coast Guard launching additional pilot programs in three different areas of the country in 2025.
Daniel and Judy said their long-term goal is to get Aqua Alert implemented everywhere, including in Minnesota.
"We came up with the idea of Aqua Alert so that DeNell could still be here and Brooklyn didn't have to go through the suffering of losing family members," Daniel said.
DeNell has taken up her own mission. She was wearing a blue life jacket at the time she went missing which made it hard to spot her in the water. While she knows blue life jackets won't be going away, she's advocating for reflective tape to be put on them. DeNell presented Tuesday at the National Life Jacket Convention.
Coincidentally, Judy presented the Aqua Alert pilot program at the convention in 2022.
The four of them gathered for an interview with KARE 11 after DeNell's presentation. Judy looked at DeNell and Brooklyn and said, "We've got two wonderful new family members."
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