Coast Guard's Search for Missing Teens Ends at Sunset

The Coast Guard has made what an official calls an "excruciating and gut-wrenching" decision: The search for two missing 14-year-old boaters will cease at sunset. The Palm Beach Post reports that's 8:19pm in Charleston, SC. The parents of Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen were informed of the timeline on Wednesday, says Capt. Mark Fedor, and should new information surface, the search could be restarted. But for now, "We believe we have reached a limit for our search-and-rescue efforts."

The boys were last sighted July 24 about 1:30pm; their capsized boat was found two days later. USA Today reports the Coast Guard search has covered an area roughly the size of Florida that stretched from southern Florida to South Carolina. The Post notes that while the families have chosen not to speak publicly, they will continue their private search via rented planes and boats, per a statement. To that end, they intend to keep a GoFundMe account active. At this point, science isn't on the boys' side. (More missing boater stories.)