Video Shows Moment Rescuers Found 3 Missing MI Tubers After 3-Day Search

MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI — Three people, including a child, were rescued from a Michigan wooded area Friday, three days after they went missing while tubing on the Muskegon River near Bridgeton Township, according to officials.

Jazmin Hock, 28, Sarah Vida, 28, and Kayden Kovalcik, 9, were using orange and pink tubes near the Maple Island Boat Launch when they went missing, according to police.

Officials searched the area for three days before they found a child's footprint about a quarter of a mile northeast of the Mill Iron Boat Launch, which is roughly six miles from where they set sail.

Rescuers began calling out and heard a child's voice calling back moments later. They then trudged through waist-high weeds for roughly a mile and found the trio.

They were all taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Vida and Jazmin Hock were still recovering, while Kayden had returned home, according to police.

Rescuer and Michigan DNR Conservation Officer Cameron Wright said he and his partner knew the area very well.

"We checked this spot based on our training and knowledge of the area—we knew this specific location is the most remote area that the tubers could have been pulled to, and it would be a bad spot to get lost because it’s the furthest point from any roads or houses."

Jazmin's mother, Theresa Hock, told WWMT the trio's rafts broke along the river, leaving them stranded in the woods. She said her daughter had a cell phone, but its battery died and they couldn't find a road.

Hock also told the news station the group had protein bars and water, but those were going to Kayden, so they had to eat flowers in the water, and bark and ants.

"With one being 28, the other one being 30, I thought that they had everything set," Hock said. "They didn't think about it very clearly."

Officials began searching for the trio after the father of one of the missing women found her vehicle at the Maple Island Boat Launch with a broken window.

They later determined the window was smashed in an unrelated theft while the group was missing. Police added those responsible have been found.

You can see video of the rescue below: