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Florida Teens’ Boat Returns To Shore As Mother Demands Forensic Probe, Claims Boys Were Abducted

By Shelley Hazen
Published on: 03:16 PST, May 16, 2016

The boat that belonged to two teens who vanished off the coast of Florida last year has been returned to shore, 10 months after the boys left for what should’ve been a simple fishing trip.

As her son’s boat arrived at Port Everglades Monday, the mother of Perry Cohen, Pamela, has formally requested that it be examined by forensic investigators as if they were investigating an abduction or homicide, the Daily Mail reported.

The investigation into the Florida teens’ disappearance has been closed, NBC News noted.

The 19-foot single-engine Seacraft arrived in Florida overnight in a container on a vessel from Norway, the Palm Beach Post reported. A crane will reportedly unload the container, and for now, there are no plans to open it. It’s currently in the custody of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The Seacraft was last seen on July 24 carrying 14-year-olds Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, who launched from the Jupiter Inlet in Florida on their way to Bermuda for a fishing trip without adult supervision.

It was found capsized on March 18 by a Norwegian transport ship, Edda Fjord, 110 miles off the coast of the island, where it drifted on ocean currents, CBS News reported.

Authorities searched for the teens for eight days over 50,000 nautical miles. The family funded a private search with fundraising, but that turned up no new evidence.

Mrs. Cohen has requested an investigation and has asked that either the commission or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement carry it out. Through her lawyer, she’s asked that a “proper forensic examination” of the Seacraft take place.

“The FWC has indicated publicly it would ‘take a look’ at the boat when it arrives at Port Everglades, however my client would like FWC to do more than just ‘take a look.’ The vessel has yet to be examined by law enforcement and may be the best lead to determine if there may have been some criminal conduct that lead [sic] to the disappearance of the boys.”

According to an investigative file on the disappearance, dated in February, the FBI has been involved but the case was never considered criminal.

Officially, the Florida teens are missing. Their boat was found by the Coast Guard 67 miles off the shore of Daytona Beach two days into their trip; bad weather prevented them from retrieving it. A report into the teens’ disappearance determined that they likely confronted a huge storm that inundated the region that day.

But family members, and Mrs. Cohen, in particular, have a different theory: They believe the teens were abducted. Perry’s stepfather immediately held to the theory that the teens had been taken against their will.

They believe the teens were abducted because the boat was “disabled intentionally” and two of Austin’s friends received a Snapchat message from him around the day of their departure that said, ominously, “were f’d.”

Pictures have since been released that showed the boat’s battery and engine had been turned off. Moreover, items were missing that suggested the Florida teens may have tried to make flotation devices, and a missing engine cover suggested that they may have worked on the engine at some point. An iPhone was also recovered but was too damaged after spending eight months in sea water to reveal any clues.

It’s not clear how law enforcement will respond to Mrs. Cohen’s request for a forensic examination, but her motives for demanding one are made clear by Austin’s father, Blue Stephanos.

“I always will have the hope that they will come walking in that door. You love someone so much, you’ll never give up.”

[Photo by Lynne Sladky/AP Images]

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