Missing P.E.I. teens identified as Alex Hutchinson and Ethan Reilly

Missing P.E.I. teens identified as Alex Hutchinson and Ethan Reilly

Two 17-year-olds who are still missing after their dory capsized off Northport, P.E.I., have been identified as Alex Hutchinson and Ethan Reilly.

CBC has confirmed their identities with the teens’ families.

On Wednesday evening, three teens went out boating near the West Prince community. When their dory turned over, only one made it ashore.

With first light Friday, fishermen in Northport, P.E.I., were getting geared up to head back onto the water to continue with the search for the two missing teens.

A search involving close to 100 local boats along with search and rescue aircraft was underway within the hour and continued through Thursday.

Late Thursday evening, the military called off the search and handed responsibility over to the RCMP.

Given the amount of time that has passed since the boat capsized, the weather conditions and what the teenagers were wearing when they went into the water, the search is now considered a recovery operation.

A Cormorant helicopter was on the scene within 40 minutes of the 911 call coming in at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, and continued to search for the teens while the light lasted on Thursday. (Brian Higgins/CBC)

Despite this, there was still a lot of traffic coming into Northport at dawn — people in the community eager to help. The Northport Community Centre was offering breakfast.

An RCMP dive team arrived from the mainland before dawn. Ground Search and Rescue will continue to comb the shoreline south of Northport.

The RCMP was early getting on the water on Friday morning. (Brian Higgins/CBC)

Grief counsellors were available at Westisle High School, where the boys went to school, on Thursday. Many students, however, were on the shore helping with the search.

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