Florida Teens Missing at Sea Could Likely Survive 4 to 5 Days, Coast Guard Says
— -- The two teens lost at sea off the coast of Florida could likely survive about 4 or 5 days in the water in current conditions, a Coast Guard official said today.
The water where Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, went missing is relatively warm, Coast Guard Captain Mark Fedor said at a press conference today, but he added that the environment is still dangerous.
Fedor estimated that Austin and Perry -- who were last seen Friday and whose boat was found abandoned Sunday -- could likely survive about 4 or 5 days at sea based in part on survivability charts. He would not elaborate.
Fedor told ABC News the Coast Guard hopes the boys may be hanging onto a lifejacket or a cooler, which was apparently on board.
On Sunday, the teens' boat was found capsized and damaged off the coast of the Ponce de Leon Inlet in central Florida, the Coast Guard said, noting that neither boy was in or around the boat.
It's still unclear why the boat capsized, Fedor said today.
Fedor said, while rescuers were disappointed they didn't find the boys clinging to the boat, having the vessel validates the Coast Guard's search strategy that they're looking in the right area.
The Coast Guard's search is now focused north of where the boat was found, Fedor said, and the search will continue overnight. By midnight tonight, over 27,000 square miles will be covered in the search, Fedor said -- equivalent to the size of West Virginia.
