Boat of Florida Teens Lost at Sea Found off Bermuda

A Norwegian vessel spotted it
By Luke Roney,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 23, 2016 5:22 PM CDT
Boat of Florida Teens Lost at Sea Found off Bermuda
Norwegian sailors recover the small boat some 100 miles off Bermuda.   (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

The boat carrying two Florida teens who were lost at sea during a fishing trip last July has been recovered 100 miles off the coast of Bermuda, the Palm Beach Post reports. The crew of a homeward-bound Norwegian vessel spotted the capsized 19-foot single-engine boat in March. "It was floating in the middle of a shipping lane," a Coast Guard officer tells the Post. They recovered the boat and continued to Norway. The serial number on the boat's engine confirmed that the craft was the one that had been piloted by Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14. The boat, along with an iPhone and other items that were on board, is now being shipped back to the US and is expected to arrive in mid-May.

In a statement, Austin's father, Blu Stephanos, says his family is "hoping and praying" that the iPhone can be restored, "to recover from it any precious memories that it might contain." The Coast Guard had found the boat off the Florida coast just days after the boys went missing; however, a marker buoy attached to it did not work properly and the boat was lost. At that time, there was still hope that the teens would survive in the water. But a week after the boys' disappearance, the Coast Guard, having covered 50,000 square-nautical-miles, called off the search, NBC News reports. A privately funded search effort by the families ended Aug. 10. In a statement at that time, the families said: "Today, our hope becomes our prayer—that one day Perry and Austin will be returned to us." (More lost at sea stories.)

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