MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — New videos released by the Michigan DNR and Michigan State Police on Monday show conservation officers and troopers rescuing the three tubers who went missing on the Muskegon River last week.
On Friday, August 7, 30-year-old Jazmin Hock, her cousin, 28-year-old Sarah Vida, and Vida's son, 9-year-old Kayden Kovalcik, were found three-quarters of a mile northeast of the Mill Iron Boat Launch in Muskegon Township, three days after they had left on a tubing trip from the Maple Island Boat Launch in Newaygo County, six miles upstream.
"I knew they were going to come home," Jazmin's mom, Theresa Hock, said to FOX 17 on Monday. "We knew [law enforcement] was doing their job, and that's what we wanted them to do, find our babies."
In body camera video from the DNR, conversation officers Cameron Wright, Anna Cullen and Seth Rhodea can be seen walking through a densely wooded in the search for the missing tubers, shouting "make some noise" as they close in on their location.
"We're coming guys," Wright, breathing heavily, says at one point in the video.
"Dude! Holy crap, man," he says when the three are found. "Oh my god."
Update on Jazman Hock, Sarah Vida, and Kayden Kovalcik
— MSP Sixth District (@mspwestmi) August 10, 2026
We know many people have been asking for an update following the successful search for Jazman, Sarah, and Kayden.
Sarah Vida and Jazman Hock remain in the hospital receiving treatment. Both are expected to make a full… pic.twitter.com/glh9T9DAHS
In a video released by Michigan State Police Sixth District, one of these conservation officers can be seen giving a piggyback ride to Kovalcik, carrying him to safety.
A photo from the DNR also shows the 9-year-old wearing a conservation officer's shirt to protect him from further injury.
At the time of their rescue, Hock, Vida and Kovalcik were dehydrated and covered in cuts, bruises, mosquito bites and poison ivy rashes. They were immediately taken to the hospital for treatment.
On Monday, Theresa Hock said the three were doing "rather well," and added that while Jazmin had been readmitted to the hospital to treat an infection on her feet, all three were likely to be home by the end of the day.
While lost in the woods, she said Hock and Vida ate the flowers of lily pads and gave the group's granola bars to Kovalcik. When those ran out, he turned to bark and ants.
"It kept them alive," Hock said.
Local News
Three missing Muskegon River tubers found alive after 72-hour search
Hock hopes the rescue can serve as a reminder for future tubers: Plan a route, pack emergency supplies and let loved ones know when you're on the water and when you're back on land.
"They had nothing planned out," she said about the tubing trip. "They thought [the river] went in a circle and thought they'd end up at where the car was parked."
"These are very good girls. Sarah's a really wonderful mama," she said. "It was just an honest, stupid mistake."
