The wife of the OceanGate CEO on board the tourist submarine that went missing while surveying the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean is a descendant of two passengers who died on the Titanic, according to a new report.
The company, which provides submersibles for tourism and research purposes, confirmed that Rush is onboard the missing vessel in a statement earlier this week, noting that he’s “a member of the crew.”
Joan Adler, executive director of the Straus Historical Society, told the publication that Isidor and Ida Straus had a daughter named Minnie Straus, who married Dr. Richard Weil in 1905.
Their son, Dr. Richard Weil III, is Wendy Rush’s father, according to Adler.
‘Where You Go, I Go’
“After a visit to their native Germany, Isidor and Ida were traveling back to the United States with Ida’s recently-appointed maid, Ellen Bird, and Isidor’s manservant, John Farthing,” the National Archives read. “Though the Straus’s [sic] usually traveled on German vessels, the lure of the newly-commissioned Titanic and all the luxury she could offer probably proved too much of a temptation for the journey home.”Both Isidor and Ida died when the Titanic hit an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, according to the National Archives, despite the couple being directed toward lifeboat eight.
“The aging Isidor refused to board the lifeboat while there were younger men being prevented from boarding,” the National Archives read. “Ida also refused to get into the lifeboat saying, ‘Where you go, I go’. Her maid Ellen was put into the lifeboat and Ida gave Ellen her fur coat, saying she had no further use for it.”
The couple were reportedly last seen together holding hands on deck before they were swept into the sea.
Isidor’s body was later recovered, and he was buried in New York’s Woodlawn Cemetery. Ida’s body was never found.
Her maid survived the sinking of the Titanic and died in 1949, but Farthing’s body was lost with the ship and never recovered, according to the archives.
Along with Stockton Rush, four other passengers are onboard the missing tourist submarine reported missing on June 18 about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Representatives for OceanGate didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for further comment.
‘Underwater Noises’
Billionaire Hamish Harding, chairman of Dubai-based Action Aviation, a global sales company in business aviation; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman; and French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet were also on board.Multiple agencies, led by the Boston Coast Guard, are currently conducting a search and rescue operation to find the submersible, called Titan.
However, those searches had ultimately yielded “negative results,” according to the agency.
Experts have said that the oxygen supplies onboard the missing vessel—which was only on its third trip since OceanGate Expeditions began offering trips in 2021, according to reports—is quickly running out.
“You know, at some point, safety is just pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed, don’t get in your car, don’t do anything. At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk-reward question,” Rush said.
