Two 18-year-old men who got lost in the mangrove swamps for nearly 10 hours were found Tuesday night in good health, the St. Petersburg Police Department said.
Aaron Michael Smith and John Oropeza were spotted at around 6:45 p.m. in the mangroves by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission plane, said Mike Puetz, a police spokesman.
Authorities said the men weren't injured.
The two friends went into the mangroves at around 9 a.m., just northeast of the Verandahs of Brighton Bay Apartments, 10800 Brighton Bay Blvd. Southeast in St. Petersburg. One of the men lives in an apartment in the area, police said.
At around 1 p.m., one of the men used his cell phone to call police to say they were lost in the mangroves.
Authorities were searching for the men but couldn't locate them. The caller's phone had a low battery, so he would turn it off and on to save power, police said.
Bad weather also impaired the search, officials said.
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