News

Actions

Former Jupiter Island Officer wins LEO Award

Posted at 9:28 PM, May 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-26 21:28:46-04

Members of law enforcement rarely get the recognition many think they deserve, but that wasn't the case on Thursday.

The LEO awards seek to put the spotlight on some of our areas best and bravest - such as Deputy Chris Caplan, winner of the 2016 LEO Committee Chairman’s Award.

On the Treasure Coast, a day can quickly go from perfect to perilous in a flash.

One such day sticks out for Deputy Chris Caplan - July 24th 2015.

"I was on marine patrol that day off of Jupiter island in the ocean, and that storm was rolling in pretty fast," he says.

At the time, Caplan was an officer for Jupiter Island Public Safety.

As bad as conditions were outside that day, the news was even worse when he got to shore and checked social media.

"Austin's aunt had put out a missing persons for her nephew and his friend Perry," Deputy Caplan recalls.

Teens Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen never returned from a fishing trip.

The boys set sail from the Jupiter Inlet earlier that day.

The reaction was almost immediate for the father of four.

"As soon as the storm passed, I shot back out the inlet to search for them."

In the weeks that followed, Caplan was on a mission.

He raised thousands of dollars on Go Fund me to fuel the search.

"We put out as many planes, civilians and volunteers as we could that were willing to go up in the air, on the ground, by boat," he says. 

It was a search that he joined in on - while he was off duty - despite one big challenge.

"I don't like to fly at all. I'm terrified of flying."

However, he knew his fear didn't compare to the dangers the boys were likely facing.

"I was personally out ten to twelve hours on one day, a couple hours the next day," Deputy Caplan says. 

The search unlocked a flood of emotions for him. 

"You were hopeful. A little bit scared. Praying. Everything crossed your mind," he says. 

"Sometimes you'd see something that you would thing was the boat, or something floating, maybe a jacket."

The search didn't end the way everyone hoped, but Caplan says he has no regrets.

Some may call it going beyond the call of duty.

Caplan says it IS his duty.

"It's in our blood," he says. "To help, to go out, to look, to do whatever we can. There's no other way about life. Something happens, you just assist, you help."