JUPITER, Fla. — In the many months WPTV connected with the community and the families of the late Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, everyone kept coming back to the same questions: How has it been ten years? How has a decade gone by since Austin and Perry were lost at sea?
July 24, 2025, marks ten years since that fateful day when Austin and Perry, both fourteen years old at the time, left the Jupiter Inlet for a day of boating and fishing and never returned.
WPTV is reflecting on the boys' legacies and giving voice to their families, who've worked tirelessly over the last decade to prevent similar tragedies and inspire future generations.
Part I: The Search
On July 24, 2015, Austin and Perry boarded a nineteen-foot boat and left the Jupiter Inlet for a day of fishing. The teens were last seen around 1:30 pm that afternoon, leaving the inlet. A short time later, a strong line of storms moved through the area, and the U.S. Coast Guard received a report indicating Austin and Perry's families had not heard from the boys for hours.
“We had no idea of the storm that came through,” Pamela Cohen, Perry's mother, told WPTV Anchor Ashley Glass in a very personal sit-down interview. Cohen was in Miami for work at the time.
“I really did think they just broke down, and we were going to find them the next morning," Cohen said.
“I remember we had a lot of factors against us, and what I mean is the weather,“ Petty Officer First Class Jorge Gomez with the U.S. Coast Guard recalled. He was activated early in the search for Austin and Perry.
“Weather was terrible, and any time you are going to look for people on the surface of the ocean, weather plays an integral role in what the outcome is going to be," Gomez said.
"I'm sure it caught them off guard very quickly," WPTV Chief Meteorologist Steve Weagle said as he described weather conditions on the afternoon Austin and Perry went missing.
"It's a line of severe weather right down the spine of Florida. Within minutes, you go from sunshine to severe thunderstorms," Weagle said.

“It went from flat to six to eight feet," Blu Stephanos, Austin's father, remembered. “Something you’d never want to get stuck in.”
“I remember the day like it was yesterday. I remember the whole thing," Dakota Stephanos, Austin's brother, described.
"I remember running out of the inlet. We actually stopped by Jib Club on the way to get fuel, and I bought a drink inside and I remember saying, I’m going to hold onto this for Austin when we find him.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard searched through the night. “Time wasn’t on our side. We knew that,” Gomez said.
On July 26, 2015, two days after Austin and Perry disappeared, the Coast Guard located the boat near Daytona Beach with no signs of the teens.
The massive search efforts covering 55,000 square nautical miles continued until July 31, 2015. That's when the Coast Guard suspended its search at sunset, marking seven days since Austin and Perry were reported missing.
Private search efforts with immense community backing continued. "I did see a lot of that," Gomez said. “I saw a lot of people volunteering their time, their boats, their aircraft to go out there and search for the boys.”
Private search efforts for Austin and Perry concluded on August 8, 2015.
“I never doubted that everybody didn’t do everything that they could to find them,” Cohen said.
“All of the thousands and thousands of people from our community and up the coast that went out specifically to search for the boys. People that donated money to help us fund airplanes, boats, to continue to go out and look for them.”

“It was towards the end, we came in the Jupiter Inlet, and they had everyone at the Inlet, all his friends, all the kids and they did a candle lighting," Blu Stephanos said.
"I knew at that point when we came in that inlet that I needed to stay home at that point, and it was coming to an end, you know, after ten days of doing this.”
Months later, on March 18, 2016, WPTV reported the boat, according to authorities, was rediscovered 170 miles off the east coast of Bermuda by a passing shipping vessel.
Personal items, including Austin's cell phone and a tackle box, were found on the boat. As WPTV also reported at the time, the phone was severely damaged and sent away for forensic examination, but a team of engineers at Apple could not power up the phone.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission concluded Austin and Perry had a weather-related incident at sea that caused their vessel to capsize. To this day, Austin and Perry are listed as "missing" with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Part II: Lasting Legacies
The families of both Austin and Perry have spent the last ten years building foundations to honor the teens and solidify their legacies.
Perry J. Cohen Foundation - https://www.pjcf.org/
"There is no escape of thinking about him, but thinking about him really brings a smile to my face more than tears to my eyes," Cohen said during an interview with WPTV Anchor Ashley Glass at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach.
Cohen shared many memories of her only son, Perry.

"Perry loved the sea. He loved the ocean. He loved all marine life," Cohen said. "He was passionate really about being nice and laughing. Laughing was his second nature, really."
The Cohen family created the Perry J. Cohen Foundation to carry on Perry's legacy and support his passions like the arts, environmental conservation, teenage entrepreneurship and boating safety education.
"Since he was little, I always told him and always believed he'd help change the world, and it's just become our responsibility to do it on behalf of him now," Cohen said.

The Perry J. Cohen Foundation underwrites scholarships to allow children to attend summer camp at Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) and supports boating safety education classes for children and adults. As Cohen explained, a
scholarship was also created in Perry’s name at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
Glass interviewed Cohen alongside a stunning and temporary art installation at LMC. Thousands of people had the opportunity to explore and learn from the sprawling piece thanks to the foundation and artist Federico Uribe. It tells a powerful story about trash consumption and where all the waste ultimately ends up.
Cohen shared how she sees Perry in the piece of art. "He loved the arts," she said.
"He was always doing beach clean-ups, even when he was little. Perry learned how to swim before he could walk. The ocean was always calling to him. So, the two of them blended together to tell a really important story about his life."

Perry's legacy also shines at Jupiter Community High School, where he was supposed to attend as a freshman. He'd already been accepted into the Jupiter Environmental Research and Field Studies Academy at the school.
In 2017, the foundation unveiled the Perry J. Cohen Wetlands Laboratory at the high school. A vibrant mural of Perry overlooks the outdoor classroom as a beautiful way to connect future generations with Perry's passion for nature.
“It really teaches hundreds of children that want to really focus their life and their future in the environment and marine studies field,” Cohen said.
“I fell in love with this program,” Lilly Ozendes, a student at Jupiter Community High School, said.
“This is what made me want to go outside and want to start up my own garden. So, it’s really this program that did all that and it’s because of Perry.”
“It was meant to be, really,” Cohen said. “There’s no better way to put it, because Perry was supposed to be there, and he was supposed to leave his thumbprint on the environment and on the school.”

The school’s principal, Dr. Colleen Iannitti, echoed that feeling. “I always believe things happen for a reason,” she said.
In 2015, Dr. Iannitti was Perry’s middle school principal.
"He was a good kid. He was never in my office for anything, anything bad," Dr. Iannitti said in jest. "Just a young man with a wonderful future."
Dr. Iannitti recalled being in her office when news broke that Perry had disappeared. “It was emotional for me, as well as every Jupiter resident, because we love being here," she said.
"We love being close to the water, and you never think that something could happen to one of our kids."
Reflecting on the mural of Perry and the wetlands laboratory, Dr. Iannitti said they convey a deep message. “It’s a reminder of so many things that are important," she said.

"The importance of family. The importance of community and the importance of just taking care of each other."
AustinBlu Foundation - austinblufoundation.org
“Ever since that day, there’s just been a huge absence," Blu Stephanos described of losing his son, Austin.
Reminiscing around a table full of pictures, the Stephanos family and Austin's best friend, Chad Smith, fondly looked back on Austin's life.
“He was a hustler. He always liked trading things. He loved fishing and the outdoors. He liked working,” Stephanos described. “At a young age, he started working at the Grand Slam. Perry worked there with him at the time, and they had a connection. The love of fishing and the water.”
“He was a role model for me growing up,” Dakota Stephanos, Austin's younger brother, said. He was ten years old when Austin went missing.
"Someone I always looked up to and wanted to be, and I’ve kind of tried to live by what I thought of him," he said.

“I have a lot of friends that I’ve grown up with for a long time, but there was no friendship like Austin and I had,” Smith said.
Smith spoke to Austin the day before he went missing. “My last words to him were I’ll be home in two weeks, buddy. I love you. To think I lost my best friend ten years ago is just mind-blowing. I can’t fathom it," he said.

The Stephanos family launched the AustinBlu Foundation, in part, to promote boating safety. Their work is focused on raising awareness, providing education and making tools and technology available to boaters.
“I knew what would have made a difference at the time was an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB)," Stephanos said.
“It’s the only thing that I truly could tell you that if he would have had one on him, I would have known exactly where to go get him.”
An EPIRB is a safety device that transmits a distress signal, including its location, and is used on boats to alert emergency officials.

“I wish he would have had it,” Stephanos said. “I think it would have given me a huge chance to be his hero and be there for him when I needed to be.”
In 2016, the AustinBlu Foundation helped push legislation known as the “Beacon Bill,” which was signed into law by then-Governor Rick Scott. It reduces registration fees for boats equipped with an EPIRB.
The foundation, in partnership with the Jupiter River Center, also hosts an annual family-friendly fishing tournament around Father's Day to promote boating safety and education.
“It’s mind-blowing to see all the kids running around, having a blast, seeing these kids walk up on stage and win $500 to $1,000," Smith said. "The smiles on their faces, you can't make it up."
Part III: Forever Remembering Austin & Perry
Six years after Austin and Perry disappeared, the Stephanos family unveiled a statue at the Jupiter Inlet.
WPTV Anchor Ashley Glass asked people who pass by the statue, sometimes daily, what they see and how they feel each time.
“Looks like two parents looking for one of their kids," Jupiter resident John Jeras said. "I empathize with the families that it happened to."

"I see hope, sadness, fear," longtime local Michael Fagan said. “I think about it. A lot of times, I’ll say a prayer when I walk by. It’s sad that it happened, but it felt so real, like everybody cared. I mean, you just drop everything and you really come together and support each other, especially the families.”
In 2021, the statue was unveiled and dedicated at Jupiter Beach Park. It depicts a man and a woman looking towards the water.
In a heartfelt conversation with Glass, Austin's father described the meaning of the statue that was purposefully designed without any names or plaques.
"The community was such a strong foundation for us, something that held us up in a time of need when we were so weak. I wanted to do something to give back to them, to represent them, and that’s why there’s a man and woman figurine, so no one was left out," Stephanos said.
"It’s like people play the lottery. The chance of winning the lottery is like one in a trillion," Stephanos said. "So, I have a lottery ticket, and my lottery ticket is to see my son again, and I’m going to do everything I can from this time until that time to be able to cash that ticket in," Stephanos said.
Glass asked Perry's mother how she feels when people say her late son's name.
"I love it. I love to hear his name. People get funny sometimes because they don’t know what to say, and while at any moment I can laugh when I hear Perry's name or I can cry when I hear Perry's name, it's still such a beautiful, important emotion to go through," Cohen said.
"If you do say something to somebody in their time of loss and make them cry, it’s not a bad thing. They’re crying because you remember."
'Jupiter Lost Boys' airs Thursday, July 24 at 7 p.m. on WPTV.