It has been revealed that Stockton Rush, the OceanGate CEO who is believed to have died aboard the Titan submersible that went missing in the Atlantic this week, had familial ties to two Titanic victims.
According to archival records belonging to the New York Times, Rush's wife Wendy is a descendent of Ida and Isidor Straus, reports Irish Star.
They were first class passengers aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912.
Read more: Tributes to victims of the Titan as five died on submarine trip to Titanic
The Straus' did not survive the wreck, which killed more than 1500 people, but their story has been immortalized through James Cameron's Oscar-winning film 'Titanic'.
The couple were fictionalized by Lew Palter and Elsa Raven in the film, which depicts them holding onto each other in bed as water filled their cabin.
However, according to survivors' accounts, they were actually last seen holding hands on the ship's deck.
As the co-owner of Macy's department store, Isador Straus' death made its own headlines in the US following the disaster. He is also said to have refused to take a spot in a lifeboat that could have been given to a woman or child.
Their daughter, Minnie Straus Weil, was not on board the ship and her great granddaughter, Wendy Hollings Weil, went on to marry Stockton Rush in 1986, according to reports.
Wendy Rush is the director of communications at OceanGate, the expedition company that owned the Titan submersible, reports Irish Star.
Stockton Rush was one of five people on board the vessel which is believed to have imploded in 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod.
On Thursday, the US Coast Guard said that the families of the passengers had been notified that their loved ones were lost.
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