Missing Homer Glen Man Found Safe in Michigan Woods

UPDATE:

Search crews located John Niesman—alive and unharmed—late Thursday.

“They found him!!!!” wrote family member Lisa Niesman on social media. “He’s alive, though dehydrated and is being taken to a local hospital. THANK YOU LORD!

“Our family is crying tears of joy right now!”

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Authorities on Thursday were focusing their search efforts for a missing south suburban man around a small lake in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

An SUV belonging to John Niesman, 71, of Homer Glen, was found near Imp Lake, across the state line from Land O’ Lakes, Wisconsin, where he had stopped at a hotel while hiking.

Niesman was reported missing Oct. 11 after not returning to the hotel the night before.

Lac Vieux Desert tribal police and the Goegbic County, Mich., sheriff’s police began their search Wednesday night around 8:15 p.m. and continued Thursday with the help of area police agencies and U.S. Forest Service rangers.

Niesman was known to hike in the area twice a year, in pursuit of fall colors and glimpses of Michigan’s state animal, the wolverine. His love for the creature even earned him the nickname “Wolverine Jack” with locals, his brother Bill told the Daily Southtown.

Prior to an aneurysm that forced his retirement 20 years ago, John worked as a carpenter. He takes anti-seizure medication as a precaution, but is not known to have seizures.

Niesman does not own a cellphone, as he “doesn’t believe in them,” his brother said.