UPDATE: Coast Guard crews cover nearly 44,000 square nautical miles in search for mis

[The Patriot]

MIAMI — The Coast Guard continues to search for two missing teenage boys approximately 100 nautical miles off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina.

Still missing are Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14 years old.

Coast Guard search crews have conducted 56 search patterns covering 43,967 square nautical miles. The search area stretches from Daytona, Florida to Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

Coast Guard assets involved in Thursday’s search include:

• Coast Guard Cutter Maria Bray

• Coast Guard Cutter Diamondback

• HC-130 Hercules airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Other agencies involved in the search include U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

At approximately 5 p.m., Friday, watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Miami command center received the report that Austin and Perry were aboard a 19-foot white single engine center console vessel and were last seen in the Jupiter area at approximately 1:30 p.m., after purchasing $110 worth of fuel.

On Sunday at 11 a.m., a Coast Guard C-130 located a capsized vessel 67 nautical miles east of Ponce de Leon Inlet, Florida. A Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew was dispatched, lowered a rescue swimmer to the boat, and confirmed the vessel's registration.

For more information contact the Coast Guard 7th District public affairs office at 786-367-7649.

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