MUSKEGON TWP., Mich. — Three people who went missing on a tubing trip down the Muskegon River have been found alive and safe.
Jazmin Houck, Sarah Vida and 9-year-old Kayden Kovalcik were located Friday afternoon around 4:30 p.m., approximately three-quarters of a mile northeast of the Mill Iron Boat Launch in Muskegon County, according to Michigan State Police.
The trio had been in the wilderness for 72 hours before their rescue.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Search for 2 women and boy missing on Muskegon River yields new clues
DNR officers noticed small child footprints in the grass near a log jam along the river bank Friday and called in a Michigan State Police K-9 unit from Marine Services to track them. Those footprints were not the same ones reported Thursday. Officers followed the tracks deeper into the wilderness until they located the missing tubers.
Michigan State Police Lt. Pat Agema said the rescue came after days of searching the river for clues.
"I'm feeling elated, and I'm feeling elated for the family as well," Agema said. "I was the point of contact for two of the family members, and I was speaking to them, and it was what a relief to give them good news, and that really really made me feel good."
On Thursday evening, two tubes believed to belong to the missing tubers were found, and the search continued into Friday.
"Our Department of Natural Resources personnel were going up and down the river, trying to go back to the locations that we had located tubes at or other debris," Agema said.
The discovery of the footprints near the log jam proved to be the break searchers needed.
"When they went back to this specific log jam, they actually got out and walked on the log jam and noticed some child footprints in the grass. And then they contacted MSP who had a K-9 on one of the boats, Marine Services. They got out and they started tracking. The farther they went in, they kept following these these small foot tracks and eventually located them," Agema said.
All three were taken to the hospital after being extricated from the woods. Agema said they were talking but exhausted from their time in the elements.
"They're in rough shape right now. You know, they're dehydrated. They've been out in the wilderness, mosquitoes and and all the elements for 72 hours now. So they are being transported to the hospital, and they are going to be evaluated and be released from there," Agema said.
All three are expected to recover.
Agema credited the coordinated effort between agencies for the successful outcome.
"It was about putting the right personnel in the right spots to bring this to a successful ending," Agema said.
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