One Of Two Florida Teens Lost At Sea 8 Months Ago Sent Heartfelt, Unfinished Text To Mom

[Snoods]

I couldn't find this story anywhere, but it was huge news at the time. There have recently been a few strange twists and turns, but I'm going to start at the beginning.

Perry Cohen

Austin Stephanos (left) and family.

Eight months ago two 14-year-old Florida teens, Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos, went missing during a fishing trip. Their overturned boat was spotted two days later, but then lost again. Their parents faced harsh criticism at the time because the boys didn't have the right equipment on board for an emergency, nor many felt the right training or maturity level for such an expedition.

Now eight months later, the boat has been found off the coast of Bermuda, along with Austin's Iphone.

Austin's father at first refused to let investigators inspect his son's heavily damaged Iphone in case it jeopardized any chance to recover data. This led to Perry's furious family filing suit against Austin's family, because they felt the phone could hold vital clues as to what happened to the boys. They dropped the suit days later.

Now a 128 page report compiled by the FWC has been released which reveals heart-breaking new details. The boys were spotted in distress on the day of their disappearance and there was another sighting two days later. Investigators said they were unable to verify the many leads that surfaced due to resource blockages.

A pilot who was part of a massive search effort told investigators he's positive he saw one floating on debris two days after their boat capsized.

Bobby Smith told the FWC that he was flying off the Georgia coast on July 26 at about 1,000 feet when he saw two white pieces of debris tied together with an orange life jacket. He went to 200 feet and saw a person waving his hands over his head. He said he climbed to 1,500 feet so he could radio controllers and when he went back down he could no longer find the person. The Coast Guard went to the area and also could not find anything.

The report also says that a woman told investigators that she saw a boat with two boys aboard broken down about 200 to 300 yards off the Jupiter coast during the storm. Her phone records show she called the Coast Guard three times, but she said it appeared the boys got the boat started and headed off before any help arrived.

And if it couldn't get any stranger.

And now, the families suspect that foul play may have been involved, a suspicion that authorities have taken seriously for several months, court documents and investigative records reveal.

Pamela Cohen's attorney, Guy Bennett Rubin, told WPBF-TV of West Palm Beach that photographs of the marooned vessel, which was recovered by a Norwegian supply ship on March 18, prove that "the boat was disabled intentionally."

The photographs show the ignition switch and the battery — both of which were in hard-to-access parts of the boat — in the "off" position."

Speaking separately at a news conference this week, Rubin said the Fish and Wildlife Commission "has indicated to us that the investigation is open and continuing, and they are taking all of this new information very seriously."

This new information about text messages Perry's mom received from her son just breaks my heart.

One of the Florida teens lost at sea sent his mother a heartfelt final text — but his message cut off before he could tell her where he was.

“Mom, it’s Perry. My iPad is dead, I’ll text you in a little. Love you,” Cohen wrote to his mother, Pamela, on July 24.

The Florida mom wrote back, “OK. I wanted you to sleep home tonight, I miss you. We leave Sunday morning for New York. What about your work?”

The teen assured her he had kept up with his homework.

"But I was going to sleep at,,,” he wrote without finishing the message.

http://cbs12.com/news/local/more-details-surface-on-austin-and-perry-in-fwc-report
http://www.people.com/article/florida-teens-lost-at-sea-boat-iphone-found-months-later
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...e-board-hold-crucial-clues.html#ixzz47rTLcuER
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mom-suggests-foul-play-florida-teens-disappearance-sea-n564421
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...ea-heartfelt-final-text-mom-article-1.2615946

 

[cubby]

I've seen this story several times and I thought it was already here.

I know at this point they're probably gone, but they were only 14, so heartbreaking. Such beautiful boys.

 

[Snoods]

I've seen this story several times and I thought it was already here.

I know at this point they're probably gone, but they were only 14, so heartbreaking. Such beautiful boys.

Well shoot, I was actually surprised that I couldn't find it, apologies if it turns out to be a dupe. I searched under their names and every other word combo I thought it may be under, but nothing.

I really wanted to bring the recent developments to light, there have been so many.

Finding the boat, the cell phone battle and ensuing lawsuit between the sets of parents, foul play suspected and the text messages from Perry. And the newly released report that indicates at least one of the boys was spotted waving his arms two days later on a makeshift raft. I wonder how long he floated around before dying. I'd always assumed the boat flipped and they drowned soon thereafter, but apparently that wasn't true, at least for one of them.

 

[cubby]

I think you're good, I don't think it's here already.
[doublepost=1500823463,1462660184][/doublepost]http://nypost.com/2017/07/21/family-of-teen-missing-at-sea-sues-friends-family/

The mother of a teenager who disappeared with his friend while boating in the Atlantic Ocean filed suit Friday against the other boy’s parents and grandfather, alleging they should have prevented them from taking an ill-equipped boat out to sea.

The mother of Perry Cohen filed the suit against the family of Austin Stephanos. Both boys were 14 when they disappeared off the Palm Beach County coast in July 2015 after a storm, launching a massive search. They were never found. A Norwegian cargo ship found their overturned 19-foot boat months later in the Bahamas.

 

[Brillig]

Because this situation is not already tragic enough, so let's sue the other dead boy's family. Ugh. If they kept better tabs on their own kid, he would not have been on that excursion in the first place. I doubt their son would approve of them suing his best friend's family.

 

[JackBurton]

Because this situation is not already tragic enough, so let's sue the other dead boy's family. Ugh. If they kept better tabs on their own kid, he would not have been on that excursion in the first place. I doubt their son would approve of them suing his best friend's family.

What else would you expect from a bunch of florida scum?