Into the 2015 Disappearance Of Teenage years Austin Stephanos And Perry Cohen

TCPalm states that volunteers and the Coast Guard extensively searched 50,000 square miles for Austin Stephanos, Perry Cohen, and their boat. They, however, came up empty. That said, the Sun-Sentinel writes that two days after the boys went missing, pilot Bobby Smith, who was aiding in the search effort, believed he saw their boat and a person near the Ponce De Leon Inlet. Sadly, the Coast Guard was unable to find what Smith had described. Per People, the Coast Guard decided to end the search for the boys a week after their disappearance. Nearly a year later, in April 2017, CBS 12 reported that their boat had been discovered near the Bermuda coast by a Norwegian ship.

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Inside the boat was Austin’s iPhone, yet there was no trace of him or Perry (via TCPalm). Although it’s unclear what exactly occurred to them, the families of both boys hoped that this discovery would provide them with clues. Another article from People explains that this later caused tension between Austin and Perry’s families. Perry’s family, including his mother, Pamela Cohen, wanted the phone to be inspected by law enforcement. Austin’s father, William “Blu” Stephanos, disagreed and noted that he wanted the phone to recover “any precious memories that it might contain.” Pamela promptly filed a lawsuit over this matter. The phone was later sent to Apple, where it was unable to be restored (per WPBF).