President Clinton, who has talked continually with Kennedy family members since the plane was reported missing, said he had authorized a continuation of the unusually long search, which has been criticized as excessive for three private citizens.
Because of the role of the Kennedy family in our national lives and because of the enormous losses that they have sustained in our lifetimes, I thought it was appropriate to give them a few more days, Mr. Clinton said this afternoon during a news conference on other topics.
If anyone believes that was wrong, the Coast Guard is not at fault – I am, Mr. Clinton said. It was because I thought it was the right thing to do under the circumstances.
Sounds like Clinton wanted to make sure they were dead.
https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/22/us/bodies-from-kennedy-crash-are-found.html