The missing Florida boys whose boat was found off the coast off the Ponce de Leon Inlet on Friday are still part of an active Coast Guard search today. The 14-year-old boys–Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos–left Jupiter, Florida on Friday.
On Wednesday the Coast Guard confirmed that five cutters, a Navy ship, and several planes are involved in the search.
“We are 100% committed to finding and rescuing those boys, as is the Coast Guard, and we will not stop until we get them back home with us,” Perry’s mother, Pamela Cohen, told CNN late on Tuesday.
“We just feel very, very confident that they will be able to stick through this. They know that we’re coming for them and we will get them,” she said.
“They’ve brought out every resource they have,” Carly Black, who is Austin’s mother, said of the Coast Guard search. “They’re using everything they have to find our boys. They truly believe they’re going to find them.”
The boat on which the missing boys were traveling is a 9-foot, single-engine center-console vessel. The families believe the boys made flotation devices from items missing from the capsized boat.
Families ask public to help find missing Fla. teens; "the boys are out there" http://t.co/3BPMPSp7BY pic.twitter.com/oKt2uKdcdT
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 29, 2015
Even though Cohen and Stephanos are young teens, they are legally old enough to operate a boat by Florida standards.
“We know our boys. We know the determination and the courage that they have. We know the skills that they have. We know how athletically fit and able they are. Both of our boys learned how to swim before they learned how to walk,” Pamela Cohen adds.
Both of the missing boys grew up on the water.
Search for missing teens intensifies. Mother: We are 100% committed to finding those boys http://t.co/6xex4WyWot @CNN pic.twitter.com/KUDVVIAJMz
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) July 29, 2015
Prayers are being said by people all over the country for Perry and Austin. Football legend Joe Namath is a neighbor of one of the boys. He offered up a reward for information leading to them.
Hopefully these missing boys are found safe, bringing an end to this frightening time for their parents and their community.
