The American couple who had been reported missing during a trip to Portugal, have now been located, and they are now traveling back home in the state of Virginia.

According to a report by CNN Portugal, the US Coast Guard confirmed that the man and woman, both 65, contacted authorities on Friday to say they were safe and on their way to Hampton. At the time of the call they were about 129 kilometres from Chincoteague, and both assured the authorities that they were fine and did not need assistance.

Yanni Nikopoulos and Dale Jones disappeared while on a sailing trip to the Azores. The vessel was found with some damage, having gone through a storm zone on June 13. Since then, nothing had been known about the couple, who had left Hampton on June 8 on their way to the Azorean archipelago.

Four days after Dale Jones' last communication with the family, the sailor's daughter, worried about not being able to reach her mother, alerted the Coast Guard on June 17. Although the couple did not have a set date for their return, after the damage to the vessel, it was expected that they had already arrived in the United States.

They ended up being able to call Dale Jones' daughter to say that their boat had been struck by lightning, so they ended up getting on a lifeboat to return home. At the time they were 740 kilometres from Virginia.