Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos, both 14, went on a fishing trip off the Florida Coast, 12 miles away from Daytona Beach, according to a report from CNN.
Both went missing.
Days later, the Coast Guard says they had found the 19-foot boat that the two boys were in when they went out into the open sea. The thing is, they were not there.
Coast Guard says the boat has been found 67 nautical miles off Florida's Ponce de Leon Inlet. They say that though they have found the boat, the search for the two boys will still go on.
Coast Guard crews will keep search, Petty Officer 1st Class Stephen Lehmann told reporters. "This is still considered an active search and rescue case, and we maintain our perpetual optimism that we're going to find somebody," he said.
Based on where they found the boat, the Coast Guard has a new point of reference for their search and rescue operations. According to CNN, Lehmann says that the search area is now about 33,000 square miles, an area roughly the size of Maine.
As reported by Reuters, the Coast Guard says that airplanes, helicopters and speedboats searched more than 14,000 square nautical miles in search for the boys, who were last seen on their boat in the waters of Palm Beach County.
Meanwhile, there are a lot of responses from the people who are concerned about their whereabouts.
Renowned former NFL quarterback Joe Namath is and neighbor of the teens. "We just keep on praying, man," he tells WPTV. He told reporters Sunday that he was helping with the search.
"It's hard, it's so hard, but we've got to believe in their wherewithal," he adds.
Namath is also offering a $100,000 reward for those who could locate them, reports Reuters.
Perry's stepfather, Nick Korniloff puts trust in the kids. He tells CNN, "They know the waters. They've been through rough water, they've been through thin water. ... Those are salty dog kids, and they know what they're doing out there." He says that the families would stop do everything to have their kids back home.
People also assembled at the local Jupiter Christian School to pray for the missing boys. The Principal, Michael Dube, calls everybody to pray for them.
"We pray that Austin and Perry will be found safe," he said, "that they will be returned home to their moms and their dads, that will hug them and kiss them and love them."
