Missing Wisconsin Boy Found Safe In MI Porcupine Mountains: MSP

ONTONAGON COUNTY, MI — An 8-year-old boy who went missing Saturday afternoon in a state park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula was found safe by a park volunteer Monday, Michigan State Police said.

The volunteer found Nante Niemi of Hurley, Wisconsin, under a log about two miles from the family’s campsite in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.

Officials said Niemi was there the entire time, and that he is in good health and was reunited with his family.

Niemi was camping with family in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in the area of Pinkerton trail when he disappeared around 1 p.m. Saturday, his mother, Jessica Buerger, told WDIO-TV.

Officials said Nante was walking and gathering firewood for the family's campsite when he disappeared Saturday afternoon.

More than 150 officials and volunteers searched the area, which officials described as a very remote and hilly with a lot of standing water. Some searched by foot, while others searched from the air and water. The search also included nine police dogs.

The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is the largest state park in Michigan with over 60,000 acres of old-growth forest, waterfalls, Lake Superior shoreline, rivers, trails and ridges, according to the state's Department of Natural Resources.