A search and rescue team found three family members, including a 9-year-old boy, 72 hours after they went missing while tubing on the Muskegon River in Michigan. The family, who were reported missing after they didn’t come home and one of the women missed a dentist appointment, had been walking aimlessly in the woods after their tubes popped.
Rescue Efforts
Search parties, including several boaters and drones, were scouring the area before the rescue team found the family about 7 miles from where they entered the river. The rescuers tracked them from a tube next to the river, following footprints, broken twigs, and bent grass.
The 9-year-old boy, Kayden, explained that they had been eating bark and flowers, while his mom’s cousin said they had to drink river water. One of the women had deep cuts on her leg from trudging through the brush, and they had a broken phone and a single water bottle with only a few sips left.
Cameron Wright, a conservation officer from Newaygo County, said, ‘There was not even an inch of their exposed skin that was not just covered in cuts and bug bites and mud and scrapes where they were just physically not able to go any further.’ The rescuers put the two women in Stokes baskets to get them out of the brush, while Wright carried the boy on his back.
Aftermath
The family was taken to the hospital and treated for infections, dehydration, and rashes. As of Tuesday, all three were back home.
Original reporting: Warren | FOX 2 Detroit — read the source article.
