The article I read, WSJ, conveyed no information about it being shared with the people leading the search. It's fair enough that it wasn't definitive. I would expect that it wouldn't be, and obviously they have no duty to share anything with the media nor the public at large. I would've thought it should be shared once it became an all consuming news story, rather than having broadcasts around the world droning on about how much time they have left. At least one broadcast from overseas was showing an air countdown timer whilst that's not the US Navy's fault they certainly could've largely put it to bed by just sharing their suspicions based on the evidence.