Haris Suleman, 17, died in the July 22 crash and his father, Babar Suleman, remains missing.
The beacon registered to the Sulemans was retrieved from a family in a shoreline village, American Samoa Department of Homeland Security Director Iuniasolua Savusa said yesterday.
Local authorities got a call late Sunday from the US Force Rescue Center in Florida that the beacon was transmitting GPS coordinates, Savusa said.
Savusa said a young boy found the device and took it home. "The minor child told his father that the device was with a black pack-bag which was badly torn and the only thing the youngster saw was an antenna sticking out of the pack-bag," Savusa said. "The youngster took only the device, which has the antenna. I now have the device in my possession." Savusa said the police team went back to where the child found the device but did not find the bag.