Photo: Levy County Sheriff’s Office
Two teenagers who went missing while paddleboarding near Tampa, Florida were found by rescuers nearly a day later. The find was made by a trio of volunteers, Will Pauling, Alex Jeffries and Russ Coon, who joined a huge search effort.
Avery Bryan and Eva Aponte, both 16, initially went missing the afternoon of Monday, March 17. According to Today, they had initially embarked on a half-mile trip from the island of Atsena Otie Key to Cedar Key. When they didn’t return, family members called 911 and a search was mounted. Rescuers called for volunteers with boats to join in the search, at which point Pauling, Jeffries and Coon joined the effort. The following morning the trio spotted the girls on an oyster reef nearly 14 miles away from where they went missing.
“As we’re moving along, Alex saw something on shore and said, ‘Hey, that looks like a raft,'” Coon told ABC. “And as we pointed the boat towards the girls, they stood up and started waving at us, and then clearly, we waved back.”
“I think the high tide kind of pushed them up into that area, which was, I believe, around 4:30 this morning, and (they) kind of held onto that island, and that’s where we found them,” added Pauling.
According to Inside Edition, the teens recounted that they had actually seen rescue helicopters pass three times in the night before they were retrieved. However, they were barefoot and the razor-sharp reef prevented the pair from approaching the craft and being seen by its spotlight.
As People reports, the pair were sent to the hospital immediately afterwards, where they were treated for dehydration and hypothermia. They were released that Friday.
“The support and immediate response from law enforcement, the community, local fisherman and first responders came together seamlessly,” said the Bryan and Aponte families in a joint statement. “We are greatly touched and still in awe of the overwhelming and rapid response from everyone.”
