Rescue teams find missing Muskegon River tubers after three-day search
By: -----
Muskegon County, MI - New bodycam video captures the moments search-and-rescue crews found two women and a child who went missing after tubing on the Muskegon River.
Since Tuesday, Michigan State Police and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conservation officers had been searching for Jazmin Hock, 28, Sarah Vida, 28, and Vida's son, Kayden Kovalcik, 9.
The trio had gotten onto the Muskegon River from the Maple Island Boat Launch in Newaygo County but didn't make it back, sparking a three-day search on the ground, in the water and in the air.
All three were found alive in the woods just after 4:30 p.m. Friday, about a quarter-of-a-mile northeast of the Mill Iron Boat Launch in Muskegon County.
Michigan State Police say troopers had to trudge through waist-high weeds for more than a mile before they found the trio.
According to Michigan DNR Conservation Officer Cameron Wright, he and his partner checked the area based on their training and knowledge of the area. He said the spot was the most remote area that the tubers could be pulled to.
"My partner and I work this area all the time, we know it very well," Wright said. "It would be a bad spot to get lost because it's the furthest point away from any roads or businesses."
In the middle of a log jam, Wright said crews could see a path in the grass. He added the trio "came down some logs and went through water" before heading onto the riverbank and into the trees.
"We were able to see where they entered the woods and requested assistance once we located footprints in the mud," Wright said. "We followed the track, looking for areas where ferns were tipped over, grass was bent, sticks were snapped – all in a certain direction.”
Bodycam video shows officers taking the shirts off their own backs to get the trio protected from dangerous brush, which had cut all of their bodies, from days of walking.
According to Theresa Hock, Jazmin's mother, the trio had brought rafts that were meant to be used in a pool. Those rafts broke, leaving them stranded.
While the group had Jazmin Hock's phone, it lost battery power, leaving them without any means to contact anyone.
"With one being 28, the other one being 30, I thought that they had everything set," Theresa Hock said. "They didn't think about it very clearly."
After their rescue, Theresa Hock found out the trio stayed together over the three days to find help.
She said they [Jazmin Hock and Sarah Vida] had protein bars and water, but were giving them to Kovalcik