NEWSJFK Jr.’s Body Found 116 Feet Underwater Hours After Search Team Considered Calling Off Effort, Says Mission Leader
John F. Kennedy Jr. died alongside his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and her sister, Lauren, on July 16, 1999, in a plane crash.
Oct. 24 2026, Published 4:42 p.m. ET
John F. Kennedy Jr.'s body was discovered submerged 116 feet under the Atlantic Ocean only hours after the search team wanted to abandon the operation.
According to mission leader, Coast Guard Capt. W. Russell "Russ" Webster, by the fourth day of scouring the sea to find the son of famed president John F. Kennedy, the crew almost gave up.
John F. Kennedy Jr. Died in July 1999
Carolyn and Lauren Bessette were identified by their hair colors.
The George magazine founder, as well as his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and her sister, Lauren, died on July 16, 1999, when the aircraft he was piloting crashed into the ocean off Martha's Vineyard, Mass. The trio were traveling from New Jersey to Massachusetts to attend JFK Jr.'s cousin Rory’s wedding.
Webster told a publication on Saturday, October 24, that a few days had gone by and there seemed to be no luck in sight of finding JFK Jr.'s body.
High-Tech Sonar Scanners Helped Detect John F. Kennedy Jr.'s Remains
John F. Kennedy Jr. was flying the aircraft that ultimately killed him, Lauren and Carolyn Bessette.
When the team was ready to end their search, high-tech sonar scanners located his remains on the ocean floor — about 10 feet from the plane wreckage — which still held the bodies of Lauren and Carolyn. The two sisters were later identified by their different hair colors.
"John F. Kennedy Jr. was outside the aircraft, and there was a consideration that had another day passed, that in the 1.6-knot current, that he might’ve been swept away," Webster said.
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The search team spent about five days looking for the couple.
"They might have never found him had another day gone by,” his wife, maritime historian Theresa Mitchell Webster, also recalled to the publication.
The pair co-wrote their recent book, The Last Flight: The Untold Story of the Search for JFK Jr. and the Race Against the Atlantic, which gives an inside look into the U.S. Coast Guard's multi-day search, rescue and recovery mission to find the attorney and the Bessette sisters.
The search team spent about five days looking for Lauren, Carolyn and the businessman.
The Mission Reportedly Cost $5 Million
John F. Kennedy Jr.'s body was discovered submerged 116 feet under the Atlantic Ocean.
Russell also calculated the operation cost up to a hefty $5 million, as it ranged about 100 nautical miles between Cape Cod, Mass., and Long Island, N.Y., and involved thousands of workers from 28 local, state and federal agencies.
"One of the reasons we were able to finally write this book was the fact that many of the people that had said they did not want to participate earlier had retired from federal service and became more talkative, more reflective. And they knew how important it was to tell this story," he stated.
