Boys Lost at Sea Seen in Newly Released Video

Perry Cohen, Austin Stephanos seen departing in boat
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted May 1, 2016 2:04 PM CDT
Boys Lost at Sea Seen in Newly Released Video
This file combination made from photos provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows Perry Cohen, left, and Austin Stephanos.    (U.S. Coast Guard via AP, File)

An investigation into two teen boys lost at sea has turned up never-before-seen video of their departure, but an attorney for one of the boys' families fears investigators may be giving up, CBS News reports. "I think that the video was released because the Florida Wildlife Commission has decided it no longer wants to investigate," says Guy Rubin, who represents the family of lost teen Perry Cohen. "But the family thinks that the wrong decision. Why would you end an investigation when you find new evidence?" The newly released footage shows Cohen and his friend Austin Stephanos on the boat leaving the Jupiter inlet on July 24, 2015, the day they vanished, ABC News reports. Stephanos pulls off his hat and appears to be piloting the single-engine boat.

In an emergency court hearing Friday, the two families agreed to send Austin's iPhone—which was recovered from the empty fishing boat—to Apple for possible data recovery. "In this day and age, the phone has become the ubiquitous documentarian—we're creating evidence as we live life," says Rubin. It's unclear whether anything can be retrieved from the phone, which was deteriorating and rusting from exposure to salt water and had no protective case, the Sun-Sentinel reports. The boys, both 14, vanished on a fishing trip after being caught in a storm. Their boat was spotted by a Norwegian supply vessel about a 100 miles off the coast of Bermuda on March 18. (Read about a disturbing clue found on board, or how a pilot may have seen one of the boys adrift on a raft.)

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