Pregnant mother and her husband drown on dream Hawaii vacation

 A pregnant mother and her husband have drowned while on vacation in Hawaii, leaving their 18-month-old son orphaned. 

Ilya, 25, and Sophia, 26, Tsaruk, of Snohomish, near Seattle, Washington, were  believed to be snorkeling off the coast of the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve in Maui when they ran into difficulty on Saturday. 

The Maui Fire Department was dispatched to the area after a report of 'swimmers/snorkelers in distress,' according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 

Sophia was pregnant with a baby girl, according to Andrey Tupikov, who has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for the their funeral expenses and shared a photo of the couple with their son on the page. 

Her Instagram profile picture showed the would-be mother-of-two cradling her pregnant stomach.

The couple leave behind an 18-month-old son, Logan, who was staying with his aunt and uncle when the tragedy occurred. 

When rescuers arrived at the scene at midday, they found the 26-year-old woman unresponsive and pulled her from the water approximately 100 to 150 yards offshore. 

Ilya was later found on the ocean floor and brought back to shore. 

CPR was administered to both victims, but rescue crews' efforts were unsuccessful and they were pronounced dead by Emergency Medical Services. 

The fire department said the surf conditions were relatively calm that day and the area is not known for riptides. 

The area the couple was swimming in is unguarded, with the nearest lifeguard station located in Makena State Beach Park, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 

Fire Department spokesperson, Chris Stankil, believes the couple must have been snorkeling based on the location they were found in, but could not be certain. 

However, he said the incident report does not mention the couple being found with equipment when Ocean Safety officers picked them up. 

In a tribute to the couple on the GoFundMe page, Tupikov said they were active in the church and that 'Sophia had the voice of an angel, and together with Ilya, they sang in a worship group in their church.' 

'The Kovalevich and Tsaruk families are grieving today, and this pain will not pass soon, but we continue to pray and lean on the Lord,' Tupikov wrote. 

'We are blessed to have had both of them in our lives and are left now with the sweet memories and moments that we shared together with them.' 

The fundraiser has exceeded its $100,000 goal, collecting nearly $105,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.

The money will go toward funeral expenses, as well as bringing the couple's bodies back to Washington, according to Tupikov.