Coast Guard

Boat and iPhone of Jupiter Teens Lost at Sea Discovered Months Later

Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, set out on a fishing trip off the Jupiter Ponce de Leon Inlet on July 24, 2015

The boat carrying two missing teenagers, who disappeared off the Florida coast last year, was discovered near Bermuda nearly eight months after they vanished, authorities said Saturday.

Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, set out on a fishing trip off the Jupiter Ponce de Leon Inlet aboard the single-engine boat on July 24, 2015 and never returned.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said a Norwegian supply boat spotted the boys' Seacraft 100 miles off the coast of Bermuda on March 18 while on route to Norway. [[376850771, C]]

The commission notified the boys' families once they confirmed the boat belonged to Stephanos, NBC affiliate WPTV reported. According to NBC News, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Commission said the families were told they could come forward with the information "in their own time."

An iPhone belonging to Stephanos and a tackle box were found on the teens' recovered boat, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The boat is expected to return to the U.S. in mid-May, Fish and Wildlife Commission Spokesman Rob Klepper told NBC News.

Lengthy searches by the Coast Guard and private pilots turned up no clues.

The Coast Guard initially located the boat off New Smyrna Beach, two days after it went missing, but the company hired by the Coast Guard to bring the boat back couldn't find it.

Contact Us