The Rescue
When the girls failed to return, their parents alerted authorities, launching a full-scale search by local law enforcement, the Coast Guard, and volunteers.
Just after 10 a.m. on March 18, local fishermen Will Pauling, Alex Jefferies, and Russell Coon spotted the girls waving from a shallow marsh lined with razor-sharp oyster beds.
Marina owner Gary Bartell rushed to the scene on an airboat.
“That’s the reason they’re alive,” Bartell said, crediting the girls’ decision to wring out their clothes and stay together on the board.
Too weak to stand, the girls had to be carried to safety.
