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USCG: Missing Jupiter teens boat found

Posted at 8:25 AM, Apr 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-23 17:50:04-04

According to the Coast Guard, the boat carrying two missing Jupiter, Florida teens, Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, was found off the coast of Bermuda. 

Officials say the boat was discovered by Multi Purpose Supply vessel "Edda Fjord" on March 18, while en route to Norway. The teens' boat was found capsized approximately 100 off the coast of Bermuda. 

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission notified the families of Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen following confirmation that the boat found belonged to Austin Stephanos. 

"The personal effects that were onboard the boat will be returned to the families of the victims, and subsequent information retrieval efforts from any of those items will be at their discretion," said Rob Klepper with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Stephanos and Cohen went missing on July 24, 2015. The 14-year-olds were last seen in a 19-foot Seacraft boat at the Jupiter Inlet. The Coast Guard found the boat  67 miles off  New Smyrna Beach, Florida a day after their disappearance, but the vessel was gone by the time a salvage crew got to the site about 12 hours later.

 Pamela Cohen, Perry Cohen's mother, released the following statement on Instagram Saturday: 

“This is an open Missing Persons case, and we hope the FWC reopens their investigation and utilizes the expert resources of other government agencies as well as the private sector if necessary to extrapolate the data from the recovered iphone.”

Pamela Cohen & Nick Korniloff