Did missing fishermen teens make a raft to save themselves? Engine cover and life jackets missing from wrecked boat may have been used for makeshift float
- Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, were last seen around 1.30pm on Friday near Jupiter, Florida, after setting out fishing
- Their boat was found capsized Sunday morning about 67 miles off shore of Daytona beach - but no one was aboard
- The boys' families asked the public on Monday to search the coast for the specific items and any other sign of the teens
- Coast Guard believes the removal of the cover might indicate the boys had tried to 'work on the engine'
- They continue to search under the assumption the boys are still alive and are shifting efforts north of where the boat was found
- Search rescue vessels have covered over 25,000 square nautical miles
The parents of two Florida boys who have missing at sea for three days believe the boys may have made floating devices from items missing from their fishing boat, found overturned on Sunday.
An engine cover, a white Yeti cooler and life jackets were missing from the 19-foot boat that Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, had taken out off the coast of their homes in Jupiter on Saturday for a fishing trip.
The capsized boat was found 67 miles off the shore of Daytona Beach on Sunday with no signs of the teens.
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The parents of Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen boys may have made floating devices from items missing from their fishing boat, found overturned on Sunday
Austin Stephanos (left) and Perry Cohen (right), both 14, have been missing since Friday afternoon after setting off fishing, but their families said Monday they believe both boys are still alive
The U.S. Coast Guard found the teens' 19-foot boat capsized off some 67 miles off off the shore of Daytona Beach on Sunday morning, but the two boys were not found
Only one Personal Floating Device was on the boat, which Perry's mother Pamela said was 'a very good sign' as there had been multiple lifejackets on board before the teens left.
'We're all still completely faithful and hopeful that all these efforts will come with a positive result and bring our boys home to us,' she told NBC News.
Austin and Perry's families asked the public on Monday to help look for the specific items or debris from the boat on the shores.
Nick Korniloff, Perry's stepfather, asked people to search from Palm Beach 'all the way up the coast of Georgia'.
'To get own down there,' he said, 'and looking for anything off.'
Capt Mark Fedor, chief of response for the Coast Guard's southeast division, said on Monday that the engine cover's removal might indicate that the boys were 'trying to work on the engine'.
Perry Cohen (left) and Austin Stephanos (right) were last seen Friday around Jupiter, Florida. The Coast Guard said Sunday that teams had spotted the 19-foot boat in which the teens had been traveling
This is a photo of the 19-foot boat the boys were on, provided to WPTV by one of their families
Coast Guard officials said they've searched some 25,000 square miles since the boys were reported missing
On Monday night the Coast Guard said it was shifting its search north of where the capsized boat was found and including the gulf stream in their rescue efforts, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Fedor said efforts are being reevaluated every day in the 'challenging environment'.
'When a person is in the water, you're basically looking for the chest up,' he said. 'So it's a relatively small object you're looking for.'
The search has been affected both because of waves and whitecaps making it difficult for crews to see - as well as the fact that it is still unknown where the boys were headed.
But Fedor said they were searching under the assumption that the boys are still alive and said in the warm water people can survive 'four to five days in these conditions'.
Lt. Commander Gabe Somma said the boys' ultimate destination was critical information needed to calculate where they should be searching.
'We've got an awfully strong current going,' he said. 'And that plays a factor on where they might be.'
e family of Austin Stephanos (left) are confident he and Perry are still alive
'I have 100% faith they'll find our boys,' Pamela Cohen told CNN's New Day.
Kerniloff agreed, saying the family was 'people of the water'.
'I know that we've trained them correctly - we've taught them the respect of mother nature and the power of the sea,' he said.
'We've raised these kids right,' he said. 'Our optimism comes from the faith we have. They are strong kids. They are survivors.'
NFL Hall of Famer Joe Namath, who lives near Perry and is close friends with his parents, has offered a $100,000 reward for the boys' safe return.
'We are optimistic, we are praying. The people conducting this search are optimisitic,' Namath told CNN. 'We are planning on finding the children.'
Perry Cohen grew up on the water fishing and is a strong swimmer, his family said
'They are two fine young fellas. We got caught in something we're not sure about ... but we are going to keep on praying and the Coast Guard is going to keep on searching.'
Coast Guard air and sea crews have so far has covered over 25,000 square nautical miles.
The pair, who are known to be avid fishermen, had stocked up on $110 worth of fuel for their 19-foot white single-engine boat, were expected to return to shore at 5pm on Friday.
They had left around 1.40pm.
Pamela Cohen said that when her son goes out, he's always conscientious about checking in and Coast Guard officials said the boys usually don't go farther than 200 or 300 feet away from the marina.
Hundreds of family and friends gathered at a candlelit prayer vigil last night at Jupiter Christian School for the boys on Sunday night.
Perry Cohen is pictured here with his mother Pamela Cohen
NFL legend and family friend Joe Namath (right) appears at a press conference with the families of the boys on Sunday beside Perry Cohen's mother Pamela Cohen and stepfather Nick Kerniloff
- Two Teen Boys Go Missing During Fishing Trip Off Florida Coast - NBC News
- Teen boys on fishing trip off Jupiter reported missing - Sun Sentinel
- Update: Coast Guard searches off Melbourne for missing teens | www.palmbeachpost.com
- Joe Namath joins the search for two missing South Florida boys - wptv.com
- UPDATE: Search moves north for missing Tequesta teens | www.palmbeachpost.com
- Families keep up hope about Florida teens missing at sea - CNN.com
- UPDATE: Coast Guard to continue search for missing teens | www.palmbeachpost.com
- Families of Missing Boater Teens Ask Public to Search for Debris, Clues - NBC News
- Missing Florida teens: Coast Guard shifting search north | www.palmbeachpost.com
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