Search For Florida's Teen Boaters Becoming 'Dire'

The search for two 14-year-old boys who went missing in the Atlantic waters off Florida’s coast last week continued Tuesday with more than 30,992 square nautical miles covered.

“We continue to search for the missing boys,” Capt. Mark Fedor, chief of response for the Coast Guard 7th district, was quoted in a media release as saying. “We’re constantly reevaluating the situation to determine our next course of action, however as each hour goes by, the situation becomes dire.”

Coast Guard crews have completed 39 search patterns so far in an area that stretches from Jupiter, Fla., to Charleston, S.C.

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, the release stated.

A U.S. Coast Guard crew out of Clearwater located the boys’ capsized boat Sunday. The vessel was located by the HC-130 aircrew around 11 a.m.

The search for Austin Stephanos, 14, and Perry Cohen, 14, began Friday around 5 p.m. when watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Miami received a report the two failed to return from their fishing excursion on time. The boys were last seen in the Jupiter area around 1:30 p.m. that day after buying $110 worth of fuel, the guard noted.

The families of the two boys are offering a $100,000 reward in the search.

NFL Hall of Famer Joe Namath has even issued a plea to raise awareness about the boys’ disappearance. The teens, he said during a news conference, are experienced boaters. Namath is Cohen’s neighbor.

Namath was holding out hope the boys will be found safe.

“We’ve got to believe in their wherewithal, and we have some confidence in that area, no doubt,” he said during the conference. “The good Lord’s got to help us out.”

Photos of Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:37 p.m. with the latest information from the U.S. Coast Guard.