Foul play not ruled out in disappearance of FL boys

[jeaniebueller]

.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mom-suggests-foul-play-florida-teens-disappearance-sea-n564421

The families of two Florida teenagers who disappeared off the Florida coast during a fishing trip last year suspect that foul play may have been involved, a suspicion that authorities have taken seriously for several months, court documents and investigative records reveal.

The boys, Perry Cohen and his longtime friend Austin Stephanos, who would both now be 15, remain missing more than nine months after they vanished July 24, 2015, while on a fishing trip. Their marooned fishing boat was discovered off Bermuda last month, with an iPhone and a tackle box on board, the Coast Guard said.

The iPhone, which was heavily damaged by saltwater, is at the center of a legal dispute between the boys' families. Pamela Jill Cohen, Perry's mother, has sued Austin's parents, Carly Black and William Blu Stephanos, demanding that the phone be turned over to third-party investigators for professional examination.


Related: Boat Belonging to Missing Florida Teens Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen Found Off Bermuda Coast

The phone belonged to Austin, but in her legal action, Perry's mother says her son's phone was broken, so the boys agreed to share use of Austin's phone, and thus she has a compelling interest in its contents. In the action, Cohen argues that she "will continue to suffer irreparable harm if the iPhone is not properly handled as material evidence in a possible maritime crime or homicide."

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which turned the phone over to Austin's parents this week, is also named in the suit. A hearing is scheduled for Friday afternoon in state circuit court in Palm Beach County.

A 128-page investigative file dated Feb. 8 reveals that the FBI has been involved in the investigation since September and that in December, state investigators requested subpoenas for phone records in connection with "an official investigation of a suspected felony."

The FBI's involvement began in September, when Austin's stepfather, Nick Korniloff, contacted the FBI and a Fish and Wildlife Commission criminal investigator saying he believed the boys were abducted, according to the file.

The investigative file also discloses that at least two friends of Austin's received a Snapchat message from him on or about July 24 reading "we're f'd." Investigators stressed, however, that neither friend could definitely confirm that they received the message on the day the boys disappeared.

But Pamela Cohen's attorney, Guy Bennett Rubin, told WPBF-TV of West Palm Beach that photographs of the marooned vessel, which was recovered by a Norwegian supply ship on March 18, prove that "the boat was disabled intentionally."

The photographs show the ignition switch and the battery — both of which were in hard-to-access parts of the boat — in the "off" position."

"So we don't know whether foul play was involved or not," Rubin told the station.


Speaking separately at a news conference this week, Rubin said the Fish and Wildlife Commission "has indicated to us that the investigation is open and continuing, and they are taking all of this new information very seriously."

Rubin said Cohen is "desperate" to know what happened, and "we're not going to just stand by and let someone kind of filter the information that we get."

In a statement released through a foundation that the Cohen family set up in their son's memory, Pamela Cohen said the family gave its consent for the Fish and Wildlife Commission to turn Austin's iPhone over to independent investigators. Authorities haven't said explicitly that Austin's parents refused to give such consent, but the Fish and Wildlife Commission said it returned the phone to them this week.
In a statement of their own, Austin's parents said they were working with Apple Inc., "who seems willing to help us try to get the phone operational again." They promised to share the phone's data with Cohen and with investigators, but they said they didn't want to compromise any potentially "very sensitive and very personal" information.


"In light of the recent San Bernardino incident involving attempts by the FBI to retrieve data from a locked iPhone, we felt that it would be best to avoid the pressures of having these efforts played out in the media," they said.

But "this is no less a serious matter to us than it has been for the San Bernardino families," Cohen told NBC News.

"As a mother, I owe it to Perry to fight for him when he cannot," she said. "We need to avail ourselves of the best resources and intelligence to preserve and retrieve this potentially vital iPhone information. We all want truth and transparency."

[bears]

This sounds so fishy. Those poor boys.

[ttt]

I don't understand why the boy's parents wouldn't have immediately turned it over to the police if there was an inkling of foul play.

[jln]

Why were 2 14 yo kids out on a boat alone? Whose boat was it? My first thought is that one of the parents did it.

[ttt]

Apr 29, 2016 9:55:31 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

 They promised to share the phone's data with Cohen and with investigators, but they said they didn't want to compromise any potentially "very sensitive and very personal" information. 

This makes me wonder if the boys (or this boy) was involved in something drug-related, something that could have possibly led to their disappearance, and the parents don't want it to become public. 

[ttt]

Now, I think this is REALLY fishy.

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209604835501835&set=o.1456127564691506&type=3&theater

They wouldn't turn over their son's phone or boat to the police?? Because it was "precious"?? If my child had disappeared, I would give the police anything they asked for if it could possibly help find them.

[isabel]

Apr 29, 2016 11:39:50 GMT -5 ttt said:

I don't understand why the boy's parents wouldn't have immediately turned it over to the police if there was an inkling of foul play.

This. I truly cannot comprehend why they wouldn't want an investigation of the phone's contents.

[isabel]

Apr 29, 2016 13:33:08 GMT -5 ttt said:

Now, I think this is REALLY fishy.

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209604835501835&set=o.1456127564691506&type=3&theater

They wouldn't turn over their son's phone or boat to the police?? Because it was "precious"?? If my child had disappeared, I would give the police anything they asked for if it could possibly help find them.

What I don't understand is why the police can't compel them to turn it over. Is it because they don't have enough evidence of foul play to compel those items for evidence?

[ttt]

The other thing I don't understand is why the FBI can't just compel them to turn the phone over. That's impeding a criminal investigation, right?

[ttt]

Apr 29, 2016 13:37:23 GMT -5 isabel said:

Apr 29, 2016 13:33:08 GMT -5 ttt said:

Now, I think this is REALLY fishy.

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209604835501835&set=o.1456127564691506&type=3&theater

They wouldn't turn over their son's phone or boat to the police?? Because it was "precious"?? If my child had disappeared, I would give the police anything they asked for if it could possibly help find them.

What I don't understand is why the police can't compel them to turn it over. Is it because they don't have enough evidence of foul play to compel those items for evidence?

Ha, jinx. I don't get this either. 

[ttt]

Did we talk about this?? They found the boys' boat, then 12 hours later when they went back to retrieve it, it was gone.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/boat-belonging-missing-florida-teens-also-vanishes-coast-guard-n403896


Skeeeetchy....

[elleblue]

Apr 29, 2016 13:29:13 GMT -5 ttt said:

Apr 29, 2016 9:55:31 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

 They promised to share the phone's data with Cohen and with investigators, but they said they didn't want to compromise any potentially "very sensitive and very personal" information. 

This makes me wonder if the boys (or this boy) was involved in something drug-related, something that could have possibly led to their disappearance, and the parents don't want it to become public. 

Or perhaps the parents are involved in some kind of drug related or other criminal activity. That would make for a good reason for them to not want to investigate too closely. 

[jln]

Apr 29, 2016 13:33:08 GMT -5 ttt said:

Now, I think this is REALLY fishy.

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209604835501835&set=o.1456127564691506&type=3&theater

They wouldn't turn over their son's phone or boat to the police?? Because it was "precious"?? If my child had disappeared, I would give the police anything they asked for if it could possibly help find them.

Yep, it definitely makes me think the parents were up to something. I wonder if their child had a large life insurance policy.

[isabel]

Apr 29, 2016 13:52:40 GMT -5 elleblue said:

Apr 29, 2016 13:29:13 GMT -5 ttt said:

This makes me wonder if the boys (or this boy) was involved in something drug-related, something that could have possibly led to their disappearance, and the parents don't want it to become public. 

Or perhaps the parents are involved in some kind of drug related or other criminal activity. That would make for a good reason for them to not want to investigate too closely. 

No way they're doing this only to protect the kid. They were up to something and had some kind of involvement. The life insurance money isn't a bad theory either.

[ladybug2002]

I've thought this story was strange from the beginning, starting with the almost half million dollars these already wealthy people raised for the search effort.

[readyin07]

Apr 29, 2016 13:37:23 GMT -5 isabel said:

Apr 29, 2016 13:33:08 GMT -5 ttt said:

Now, I think this is REALLY fishy.

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209604835501835&set=o.1456127564691506&type=3&theater

They wouldn't turn over their son's phone or boat to the police?? Because it was "precious"?? If my child had disappeared, I would give the police anything they asked for if it could possibly help find them.

What I don't understand is why the police can't compel them to turn it over. Is it because they don't have enough evidence of foul play to compel those items for evidence?

It's not an active criminal investigation.

[isabel]

Apr 29, 2016 16:20:40 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

Apr 29, 2016 13:37:23 GMT -5 isabel said:

What I don't understand is why the police can't compel them to turn it over. Is it because they don't have enough evidence of foul play to compel those items for evidence?

It's not an active criminal investigation.

Does it have the potential to be?

[pixy0stix]

This whole thing, start to finish, is so weird.

[ttt]

Also, apparently the agency in charge of the missing persons investigation is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. ? If my kid were missing, I feel like that is....not who I would want handling things.

[readyin07]

This story is local to me so I've seen a lot about it. I don't know the families, but know people who do. I think that both families have agreed as of today to turn the phone over to Apple.

Although there are some odd details, I think Occam's razor applies here. Two young teens went out fishing in a pretty small boat out of a notoriously dangerous inlet when a huge squall came up. I guess I wouldn't be shocked if there was some kind of boat tampering because life is strange, but it doesn't seem like the most fitting explanation. Multiple people and cameras reported seeing the boys on the boat and supposedly a friend reported seeing a snap chat with a photo of the weather coming in with the caption "we're f@#ed"

I do think it's weird that they didn't want the phone turned over. Honestly, I would think what do we have to lose by trying to recover what we can? But the phone only survived b/c it was in a locked box on the boat so I have to believe that there is not going to be much helpful there.

There is a report that came out with new details www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/missing-florida-teens-what-state-investigators-fou/nrDdr/ Shortly before he disappeared at sea off Jupiter in July, Austin Stephanos posted a Snapchat video that showed menacing clouds on the horizon — a final bit of footage seemingly lost to the ephemeral nature of the popular messaging service.

Austin and friend Perry Cohen, both 14 at the time of their disappearance, haven’t been seen since, although their 18-foot fishing boat and Austin’s iPhone were found in March by the crew of a Norwegian ship.

Unraveling the mystery of their disappearance is complicated by a pair of technical challenges. First, Austin’s iPhone was exposed to saltwater for eight months. Second, he used Snapchat, a messaging network where posts are programmed for self-destruction.

“If it were on any other social network, the ability to reach into archives would be completely different,” said Aliza Sherman, a digital marketing consultant and co-author of Social Media Engagement for Dummies.

Unlike Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, where posts linger for years, Snapchat was built on the idea that a message would be deleted almost immediately after it was viewed.




+Could Snapchat posts shed light on missing teens’ final moments? photo

Candles burn as night falls at the Jupiter Inlet, where Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen took their small boat out on ... read more

“Technically speaking, they’re supposed to disappear,” Sherman said. “That’s part of the appeal for young people.”

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report on the teens’ disappearance includes the investigator’s request to Snapchat for Austin’s last posts. The Venice, Calif.-based company responded with the barest of details — Austin’s Snapchat name (“austinfishkille”), plus his e-mail address and phone number.

A state investigator who spoke to Austin’s friends reported that one recalled seeing a Snapchat post from Austin on July 24 that ended with the teen saying, “Peace Out Jup.”




+Photo of of iPhone found in missing teens' boat photo
Courtesy Edda Accommodations Ltd./FWC

Photo of of iPhone found in missing teens' boat

Another of Austin’s friends told the FWC investigator that a Snapchat video, sent as a fast-developing summer storm headed toward the boys’ boat, ended with a grim commentary: “We’re [expletive].”

Beyond that, officials investigating the teens’ disappearance were unable to retrieve the posts or any other content posted by Austin. Snapchat cited federal laws and standards calling on a government entity to produce a court order or search warrant before it could consider releasing any content.

The State Attorney’s office also told the FWC investigators that, absent criminal charges in the case, they could not “subpoena for phone records or Snapchat,” the FWC report said.




+Photo: Florida Missing Teens photo

Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, who went missing after leaving the Jupiter Inlet in a small boat on July 24, 2015, ... read more

Snapchat didn’t respond to a query about whether it maintains possession of that video, but the company’s policy favors erasing messages.

“Snapchat lets you capture what it’s like to live in the moment,” the company says on its website. “On our end, that means that we automatically delete the content of your Snaps (the photo and video messages that you send your friends) from our servers after we detect that a Snap has been opened or has expired. But remember: There are various ways Snapchatters can save your content and also upload it to Snapchat.”

When Snapchat launched in 2012, images taken on the app were visible to a user’s friends for only a few seconds. In 2013, the network allowed users to make posts accessible for 24 hours.




Related

Photos of missing teens' boat being pulled from water


Missing Florida teens: Latest news


Missing Florida teens: Full coverage from Day 1



“Unlike other social media, everything you see on Snapchat happened within the last 24 hours, so every time you go through your friends’ stories, it is like you are getting a glimpse of what their day was like,” said Snapchat user Mauricio Santillan, 22, of Delray Beach.

The messaging app’s millions of users — many of them ages 13 to 23 — send billions of messages a day.

“Keep in mind that, while our systems are designed to carry out our deletion practices automatically, we cannot promise that deletion will occur within a specific timeframe,” Snapchat’s policy says. “And we may also retain certain information in backup for a limited period of time or as required by law.”

Snapchat doesn’t say how often it erases its servers or how long it stores users’ content.

“I think they’re probably deliberately vague,” Sherman said. “None of us really know for sure what exactly is being done. Only Snapchat knows.”

It’s possible that Austin’s final Snapchat messages remain on his phone, which authorities returned to Austin’s father. Apple has agreed to a forensic examination of the phone, an attorney for the Stephanos family said Friday.

Perry Cohen’s mother on Sunday filed a lawsuit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Austin Stephanos’ father. She argues that the phone could contain clues to the boys’ disappearance and should be examined by experts.

“The information on Austin’s iPhone must be collected by technology experts who have the expertise required to extract such data without unnecessary risks of losing such information inadvertantly or due to inexperience in such highly technical matters,” Pamela Cohn’s suit said.

The suit mentions the FBI’s battle with Apple over unlocking an iPhone used by one of the terrorists in last year’s attack in San Bernardino, Calif. But it’s unclear whether Apple is fighting the Stephanos family’s attempts to retrieve the information on Austin’s phone.

His family said it’s working with Apple. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Lynn University student Denisse Rodriguez contributed to this report.

[karinothing]

So for the life insurance thing do people think the parents harmed the kids or that they staged their disappearance?

[Alyssa]

Isn't it tampering with evidence or something along those lines? Sorry, I'm not in law enforcement, so I could be off base with that.

So odd that one family is holding onto that phone and playing keep-away, that's not right.

[nikki25]

Apr 29, 2016 11:39:50 GMT -5 ttt said:

I don't understand why the boy's parents wouldn't have immediately turned it over to the police if there was an inkling of foul play.

This doesn't make any sense especially since it is under investigation, the phone should be with the FBI; parents don't get a say in it.

Additionally, this completely comprises the chain of custody and if there is an arrest any evidence from the phone could be suppressed.

That is either some horrible police work or something really shady going on.

[nikki25]

Apr 29, 2016 16:20:40 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

Apr 29, 2016 13:37:23 GMT -5 isabel said:

What I don't understand is why the police can't compel them to turn it over. Is it because they don't have enough evidence of foul play to compel those items for evidence?

It's not an active criminal investigation.

No, it says right in the article that the FBI began an investigation and already subpoenaed several records and conducted interviews. There is clearly an open investigation into their disappearance not necessarily a criminal investigation, if that makes sense.

The FBI needs to take hold of this case, like, yesterday. The FWL is not equipped with this type of case.

And, with to those parents. Reading that FB post is like they know the boy is dead and no reason to look for them. Which is straight up shady.

[AAM2012]

Apr 29, 2016 13:33:12 GMT -5 isabel said:

Apr 29, 2016 11:39:50 GMT -5 ttt said:

I don't understand why the boy's parents wouldn't have immediately turned it over to the police if there was an inkling of foul play.

This. I truly cannot comprehend why they wouldn't want an investigation of the phone's contents.

My guess is that they owned the boat and/or think their son was liable and do not want a wrongful death lawsuit against them.

[saz]

Wow, when this story first came out, I figured it was two teenage boys taking mom and dad's boat out without permission, getting caught in a storm, and dying. I'm surprised foul play is suspected and all these suspicious details have come to light.

[readyin07]

Apr 29, 2016 18:46:11 GMT -5 nikki25 said:

Apr 29, 2016 16:20:40 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

It's not an active criminal investigation.

No, it says right in the article that the FBI began an investigation and already subpoenaed several records and conducted interviews. There is clearly an open investigation into their disappearance not necessarily a criminal investigation, if that makes sense.

The FBI needs to take hold of this case, like, yesterday. The FWL is not equipped with this type of case.

And, with to those parents. Reading that FB post is like they know the boy is dead and no reason to look for them. Which is straight up shady.

The FWC investigators cannot retain the evidence (or hand it over to the Apple themselves) because it is a missing person investigation and not an active criminal investigation. It does say that there has been FBI involvement, but they've obviously made no move for the phone so I don't know what that means as to whether or not it's considered an active investigation on their end. The phone is being sent by the father directly to Apple not the FBI.

[readyin07]

Apr 29, 2016 16:27:13 GMT -5 isabel said:

Apr 29, 2016 16:20:40 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

It's not an active criminal investigation.

Does it have the potential to be?

One would think given the additional details. It was a Fish & Wildlife spokesperson who said they returned the phone to the parents b/c it wasn't a criminal investigation, just a missing person's one. But the FBI has clearly been involved so you think they would have a say? I don't get it.

[nikki25]

Apr 29, 2016 19:22:43 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

Apr 29, 2016 18:46:11 GMT -5 nikki25 said:

No, it says right in the article that the FBI began an investigation and already subpoenaed several records and conducted interviews. There is clearly an open investigation into their disappearance not necessarily a criminal investigation, if that makes sense.

The FBI needs to take hold of this case, like, yesterday. The FWL is not equipped with this type of case.

And, with to those parents. Reading that FB post is like they know the boy is dead and no reason to look for them. Which is straight up shady.

The FWC investigators cannot retain the evidence (or hand it over to the Apple themselves) because it is a missing person investigation and not an active criminal investigation. It does say that there has been FBI involvement, but they've obviously made no move for the phone so I don't know what that means as to whether or not it's considered an active investigation on their end. The phone is being sent by the father directly to Apple not the FBI.

What are you talking about it can't c&p in the 5th and 6th paragraph it clearly states the FBI have been involved since September and opened an investigation into the case which included subpoenaing records and writing a 127 page report. So. You are wrong.

FWC has limited powers which include subpoena powers which is impeding what they are able to do. Why they are still in this case and their lack of preserving evidence is irresponsible and hope a criminal investigation is opened to review their behaviors.

[nikki25]

Apr 29, 2016 19:22:43 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

Apr 29, 2016 18:46:11 GMT -5 nikki25 said:

No, it says right in the article that the FBI began an investigation and already subpoenaed several records and conducted interviews. There is clearly an open investigation into their disappearance not necessarily a criminal investigation, if that makes sense.

The FBI needs to take hold of this case, like, yesterday. The FWL is not equipped with this type of case.

And, with to those parents. Reading that FB post is like they know the boy is dead and no reason to look for them. Which is straight up shady.

The FWC investigators cannot retain the evidence (or hand it over to the Apple themselves) because it is a missing person investigation and not an active criminal investigation. It does say that there has been FBI involvement, but they've obviously made no move for the phone so I don't know what that means as to whether or not it's considered an active investigation on their end. The phone is being sent by the father directly to Apple not the FBI.

And, with the phone that is exactly my point. Any evidence should have been preserved and forwarded to the FBI. A case had been opened and charges do not need to be pending for this evidence preservation especially since there has been some question into the disappearance.

Of course the phone is being sent by the parents, the point is THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE THE PHONE! Jesus, and I think the FBI might be interested in the phone as A they subpoenaed the phone's records months ago.

Fucking fish and wildlife need to back the fuck out of this as they clearly do not know criminal procedure and, I can assure, if someone is arrested, they will walk. A defense attorney will have a field day with these mistakes.