Missing Diver's Mom Hopes for Answers

There is still no sign of a missing diver who grew in Owasso and recently moved to Florida. She disappeared in the Gulf of Mexico, on her first ever scuba dive in the ocean. <br/><br/>News on 6 reporter

Friday, July 21st 2006, 10:24 am

By: News On 6

There is still no sign of a missing diver who grew in Owasso and recently moved to Florida. She disappeared in the Gulf of Mexico, on her first ever scuba dive in the ocean.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says while the US Coast Guard believes she drowned, her family holds out hope.

"You know she was my very best friend." Charlotte Callis is still in the worst two weeks of her life, wondering if her daughter, Ashley Mauldin is dead, and if her body will ever be found. â€œEverybody we've talked to says that you don't vanish in the gulf in 30 feet of water, it just doesn't happen, so we don't know, we're heartbroken and we don't know what happened.â€

28 year old Ashley Mauldin disappeared earlier this month. She was diving 14 miles off the coast of Florida, with her husband and some friends when she was reported missing. â€œAnd they haven't found anything, they haven't found a fin.â€

The US Coast Guard searched for days without success and an informal search continues. After spending a week in Florida, Ashley's mother came home to Tulsa, to wait and hope, putting her confidence in God. â€œAnd that's the only way I'm getting through this, I know he has her in his arms and he's taking care of her.â€

Ashley's maiden name was Martin, and that's how most people know her. She married Michael Mauldin three years ago and they moved to Florida last September. She was a TU graduate, but before then was a budding actress and singer at Memorial High School.

Her mother has hundreds of pictures but she has even more questions about what happened to her. "I may not ever have answers to some things and I understand that, but I would really like to, I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it's horrible."

The family plans to hold a memorial service in Tulsa, but is hoping to get answers to their questions, before they have to put her memory to rest.