Pregnant wife of missing SC man begs GoFundMe donations to ‘stop’

The pregnant wife of a missing South Carolina boater has begged the public to “stop” giving to the family’s GoFundMe amid “drama and rumors” surrounding his disappearance.

Tyler Doyle, 23, vanished Jan. 26 when his duck hunting boat sank off the coast of 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.

Despite Lakelyn Doyle’s request, donations continued to trickle in.

As of Friday morning, the fundraiser more than doubled the $15,000 goal set in the days after her husband’s disappearance.

A second passenger on the vessel was rescued a few hours after it sank, according to Newsweek, but Tyler remains 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. 

According to the GoFundMe update, the search for Tyler remained ongoing this week.

Multiple sheriff’s departments, including two in North Carolina, are helping comb the beaches, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said this week.

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, of Loris, was an avid speedway racer, and had been married to Lakelyn since December 2021. The couple is expecting a baby girl they’ve named Paisley Grace, according to Facebook posts from the months before his disappearance.

In a brief statement to WMBF News Thursday, Tyler’s family asked the community for “prayers during this time.”