The Latest on missing teens: Mothers hold out hope

The search continues for two 14-year-old boys, Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos, who went missing Friday after taking a boat out for a fishing trip.

The U.S. Coast Guard continues to search for two missing teenagers who left on a fishing trip Friday near Jupiter and haven’t been seen since.

The boys were thought to be heading to the Bahamas, and their capsized boat was found 67 miles east of Ponce De Leon Inlet near Cape Canaveral.

“We don’t give up, this is about our children”, said Nick Korniloff, Perry Cohen’s stepfather.

“If I was out with them, I could have been the one that said, ‘No, this isn’t safe, we need to go back, ‘” he said.

A monetary reward of $100,000 for any information on the missing teens has been offered by Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Joe Namath, who is a family friend and neighbor to the boys.

Black said her son was like a “little McGyver”, a fictional top agent who uses scientific knowledge to survive and solve problems. Fedor said search conditions were good, but the situation is dire.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Lehmann says that ocean drift patterns have complicated the search efforts, but that the Coast Guard has re-calculated its search plans based on the boat’s location.

It’s unknown whether the boys are wearing life jackets, he said.

The boys were last seen Friday afternoon buying $110 worth of fuel near Jupiter.

“(Boating is) not even second nature at this point, it’s in their blood”, Black said.

It’s still unclear why the boat capsized, Fedor said Tuesday.

“We want to encourage everyone here in South Florida, all the way up the coast from Palm Beach to Georgia, to get out to the beach and think about bringing our boys home”, Korniloff said, as he walked the shoreline at Coral Cove Park in Tequesta. “We know they’re doing everything they possibly can to stay afloat until we can find them”, Perry’s mom, Pamela Cohen, told Today.

“We requested when he was out in the water, that he fish the river and Intracoastal (Waterway)”, he said Monday. Alivia Smallegange said the boys were going fishing and they did say “something about the Bahamas, but not too much”. Coast Guard officials have most recently been focusing on waters off northeast Florida and said they had no intention of quitting yet. So far, they’ve completed 36 separate searches.

“It’s a lot of water out there”, Namath said.

Though the boys’ boat was overturned it did not appear damaged.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.

Video courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard of capsized boat that belonged to missing Florida teens.

The US Coastguard tweeted this image of the rescue crews in Florida gearing up for the third night of the search for the missing boys.

Florida requires minors to have boating safety instruction in order to operate a boat of 10 horsepower or greater, but no licenses are issued.