USCG crews continue to search for two missing Florida teens
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) on Wednesday continued to search for two missing boys, Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14 years old, approximately 100 nautical miles off the coast of the Florida and Georgia border, the USCG said in a news release.
Coast Guard search crews have conducted 39 search patterns covering more than 30,992 square nautical miles. The search area stretches from Jupiter, Florida to Charleston, South Carolina.
Other agencies involved in the search include the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, Customs and Border Protection, Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“We continue to search for the missing boys,” said Capt. Mark Fedor, chief of response for the Coast Guard 7th district. “We’re constantly reevaluating the situation to determine our next course of action, however as each hour goes by, the situation becomes dire.”
At approximately 5 p.m. Friday, watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Miami command center received the report that Austin and Perry were aboard a 19-foot white single engine center console vessel and were last seen in the Jupiter area at approximately 1:30 p.m., after purchasing $110 worth of fuel.
On Sunday at 11 a.m., a Coast Guard C-130 located a capsized vessel 67 nautical miles east of Ponce de Leon Inlet, Florida. A Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew was dispatched, lowered a rescue swimmer to the boat, and confirmed the vessel's registration.