A body has been found in the search for missing 13-year-old twin brothers who vanished while swimming off a pier, it has emerged.
The family of Josue and Jefferson Perez, from Texas, US, have been informed a body which matches the description of one the boys was located on Tuesday morning at around 2am by a beachgoer.
A police dispatcher was heard saying: "Caller just pulled an unconscious person, young teenager, out of the water. Blue shirt, red shorts. Not moving. EMS is going to be in route.
"Male meets the description of one of the missing children from two days ago."
Police will resume their search for the second body later today, according to authorities.
The family had travelled early in the morning for a day out at the beach when the brothers went missing.
Josue and Jefferson were playing in the sea near the Pleasure Pier in Galveston, which is around 20 yards from the shore.
The brothers were last seen at around 4.30pm chest deep in the water but no eyewitnesses saw them go underwater, according to authorities.
Their parents revealed both of them cannot swim.
Lieutenant Austin Kirwin, from Galveston Beach Patrol, said: "Nobody confirms seeing them go underwater.
"So essentially what happened is they were out in the water, the parents briefly lost sight of them, and they looked back up into that area, and they did not see them any longer."
The Galveston County Community Emergency Response Team, Beach Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard, and volunteers have been frantically searching for the missing boys since Sunday evening.
Mr Kirwin added: "The real limiting factor for us right now is this fog rolling in. That’s going to inhibit us from being able to search as well as we want to.
"Also, the water is still relatively cold. It’s about 67° this morning, so without a wetsuit, the length of time you can be in that water is diminished."
He warned beachgoers should remain clam in the event they get caught in a rip current.
Mr Kiwrin added: "You never know what the beach can do. It’s not a pool. It’s not safe water, even if it looks like it is. So always swim with a buddy and know how to swim.
"In the event that you do get caught in a rip current, the key point is, do not panic. If you just relax and try to keep your calm the current will eventually bring you back to shore. The main killer in drownings is that panic mode."
