According to the Coast Guard, the boat carrying two missing Jupiter 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 miles 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.
Austin Stephanos and Perry 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 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
Pamela Cohen posted the following statement on her personal Facebook page Saturday evening:
In Response to the FWC and Blu Stephanos Statements of 4-23-16
"Throughout this ordeal, we have hoped and prayed that we will find out the truth about what happened to our beloved son. In a nearly miraculous turn of events, we now have what may be the key to answering so many question we all have about that fateful day. As a mother, I owe it to Perry to fight for him when he cannot. We need to avail ourselves of the best resources and intelligence to preserve and retrieve this potentially vital iPhone information. This is no less a serious matter to us, than it has been for the San Bernardino families. We all want truth and transparency.
So far, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has left it to Austin’s Family to give their consent to put the iPhone in the hands of independent professionals in this area of expertise. And so far, we have no confirmation they are consenting to that fair process. We urge Austin’s Family to do the right thing and to allow law enforcement to retain the iPhone until arrangements can be made to retain the top forensic teams available to begin to look for the answers we so desperately need"
Pamela Cohen
Perry’s Mom
Perry J. Cohen Foundation
This is a developing story and it will be updated as more information becomes available.