In a press conference Friday afternoon, the Coast Guard announced that its search and rescue mission for the two missing teen boaters will be suspended at sunset.
The efforts lasted longer than the usual timeframe for a mission like, says Coast Guard 7th District Chief of Response, Capt. Mark Fedor, because of uncertainty as to when the boys actually went into the water.
Fedor says that making these calls is “an art and a science,” with the scientific aspect being based on how long humans can physically survive in water, and the art taken into consideration with factors like age, familiarity with water and will to live.
The young age of the boys -- both Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen were 14 years old -- made suspending this mission more difficult than most, Fedor says.
“This one was particularly painful because a lot of the people that were out there searching have kids about the same age,” he says. He has two teenagers of his own, and called the decision to end the search “excruciating and gut-wrenching.”
He expressed his condolences to the families of the boys, and hopes that they can at least take solace in the fact that so many people got involved in the rescue mission.
Over 40 search and rescue crews covered a total nearly 50,000 nautical square miles, and Fedor said that all together they “conducted 30 days worth of searching within this eight-day window.”
The case isn’t officially closed, and search efforts could start up again if new clues or information come up sometime in the future.
