JFK Jr. Search Nearly Called Off Before Miraculous Discovery

JFK Jr.’s body was found 116 feet below the Atlantic Ocean — just hours after the search team began discussing calling off the massive operation, the mission’s leader told The Post.

After John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane went missing on the night of July 16, 1999, the US government embarked on one of the largest maritime searches for private citizens in the nation’s history.

On the fourth day of what had been an exhausting and fruitless effort to find Kennedy, his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and her sister, Lauren, officials began planning an exit strategy.