Squall blamed for pals lost at sea
New report points to weather in the 2015 disappearance of two teenagers
Two14-year-old boys left amarina in Jupiter in 2015. A state report cites weather in the capsizing of their fishing boat.
The fishing boat motor was working and weather was likely to blame for two teens going missing after leaving the Jupiter Inlet nearly two years ago, according to investigators’ findings released Thursday.
While investigators say a squall capsized the 19-foot boat carrying 14-year-olds Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, they couldn’t determine what happened to the teens after the boat overturned.
They did find that the “vessel was running and the motor became submerged at the time of the accident,” the report said.
“The evidence (is) not con- clusive enough to confirm any particular scenario on what happened that tragic day, other than the fact that the vessel took onwater and capsized,” according to the report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The Tequesta teens were last seen in the single-engine SeaCraft on July 24, 2015, buying $100 worth of gas before leaving a Jupiter marina.
Two days later, the overturned vessel was found off the coast of Daytona Beach.
The missing teens touched off weeks of searching by the U.S. Coast Guard and volunteers, hunting waters from Jupiter to North Carolina.
The investigation into what went wrong was hampered by the capsized boat going missing after not being secured when it was first found.
Then on March 18, 2016, a shipping vessel located the
overturned fishing boat about 170 miles east of Bermuda.
The boatwas delivered to state investigators in May 2016, which started a forensic review that included the wildlife commission and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The boat motor manufacturer and an independent marine consultant were also included in the inquiry.
A representative for YamahaMotor Corp. downloaded data from the engine that showed it was running at the time of the accident. The marine consultant brought in for an independent review agreed with those findings, according to the report.
Sensors showed that the boat started taking on excessive water during its last six minutes of operations and slowed to idle speed during the last three minutes, according to the report.
Corroded battery cables indicate the battery was being used when the boat first submerged, marine consultant Brian Stetler determined from his inspection of the boat.
The hull was missing a large portion of the bow, but that and other damage could have come from when the boatwas salvaged, according to Stetler.
The bilge pump control was in the off position and the gear shift lever was in reverse, but that could also have occurred when the overturned boat was recovered, Stetler determined.
Suspected sightings of the teens soon after they went missing and even nearly a year later didn’t provide any breakthroughs for investigators.
A pilot out of Georgia said twodays after the teenswent missing he saw one of them floating on debris in the water about 25 miles from the Florida-Georgia line.
He said he radioed for help, but then lost sight of him and then couldn’t find the debris. A Coast Guard searchthat followedcouldn’t verify the sighting.
“The FWC wants to take this opportunity to once again express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos,” Fish and Wildlife Commission spokesman Robert Klepper said in a statement released Thursday.
After the failed search, the two teens’ families became entangled in a legal fights over access to the teens’ social media accounts as well as the handling of adamaged iPhone recovered from the boat.
Austin Stephanos’ mother, Carly Black, declined comment Thursday.
Other family representatives and their attorneys could not be reached for comment Thursday.
While the report released Thursday wraps up nearly two years of investigations into the teens’ disappearance, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the investigation could resume if new leads or information are received.