CEDAR KEY, Fla. — The Levy County Sheriff's Office said two 16-year-old girls who went missing after going paddle boarding in Cedar Key were found alive on Tuesday.
LCSO said the girls were found around 8:30 a.m. and were "cold and had a few scratches" but otherwise healthy. Paramedics will still check them to make sure they're okay.
The teens did not return from a paddle board excursion from Cedar Key Fishing Pier to Atsena Otie Key. Around 4 p.m., the girls attempted to head back to the fishing pier but began to drift on the inflatable paddle board they were sharing. The sheriff's office then received a 911 call when they did not return.
The sheriff's office believes the inflatable paddle board the girls were on may have been affected by the strong winds and waves, which pushed them out into the open gulf and away from a sandbar just off the coast of Cedar Key. The wind and waves eventually pushed them southeast near the shore.
Around 8:30 a.m. the next day, officials said they were spotted by local volunteer Captain Will Pauling about 14 miles southeast of Cedar Key near Turtle Creek. The boat was met at a ramp and the girls were taken to the hospital by ambulance to be treated.
"If there had just been a trooper up there, maybe this whole thing could have been avoided."
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