Brian Szasz shared an alleged direct message from Travis Barker shortly before authorities confirmed that his stepfather, Hamish Harding, was killed in the Titan submersible incident.
Days after Szasz, 37, made headlines for attending a Blink-182 concert while the Titan was missing, he uploaded a screenshot via his Instagram Story on Thursday, June 22, that he claimed was from the band’s drummer, 47. “Praying for you and your family 🙏,” read Barker’s alleged Twitter message, which was seemingly sent on Monday, June 19.
In response, Szasz told Barker that he would be in attendance at Blink-182’s show in San Diego that night. “Thanks for the love fam,” Szasz added in a caption over the screenshot.
Hours later, the United States Coast Guard confirmed that searchers discovered debris from the Titan on the ocean floor, about 1,600 feet from the wreckage of the Titanic. “This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor, and the debris is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” Rear Admiral John Mauger said in a news conference on Thursday, noting that it is still too early to determine the timing of the implosion.
Harding, 58, was one of five passengers on the Titan, which had been missing since Sunday, June 18. The submersible lost contact with the surface ship about one hour and 45 minutes into its dive; it was supposed to have resurfaced later that day.
In addition to Harding, the other four passengers on board were Stockton Rush, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman. Rush, 61, was the founder and CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, which operated the Titan. His wife, Wendy Rush, is a descendant of Ida and Isidor Straus, who died on the Titanic in 1912.
After the Coast Guard discovered a debris field in the North Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, OceanGate released a statement confirming the deaths of the five men on board the Titan. The company has been taking paying tourists to visit the wreckage of the Titanic since 2021.
“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet have sadly been lost,” read the statement. “These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
Szasz, for his part, has not yet publicly commented on the discovery of the Titan debris. He previously asked his Facebook followers for “thoughts and prayers” after news broke that Harding was one of the passengers on the Titan. In a since-deleted tweet, he also asked Barker and his bandmates, Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge, for their support during the ordeal.
