A mother, her nine-year-old son, and her cousin have miraculously been found alive three days after they went missing ‘deep in the woods’ during a river tubing trip in Michigan.
Sarah Vida, 30, Kayden Kovalcik, and Jasmin Hock, 28, went tubing on Tuesday on the Muskegon River in Newaygo County, but never made it back home, the Michigan State Police said.
After days of uncertainty, the trio was thankfully found by Michigan State Police K9s and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) around 4.30pm on Friday, according to officials.
They were discovered ‘deep in the woods’ and several miles downriver from where Vida parked her car, WZZM reported.
Vida, Kovalcik, and Hock entered the second-longest river in the state near the Maple Island Boat Launch in Grant, about 186 miles outside of Detroit, on Tuesday.
A frantic search for them began on Wednesday after the father of one of the missing women found their vehicle with a broken window around 4pm. Family members were also unable to reach them.
The intense search involved officials searching the area by water and air for the mother, son, and woman.
Sarah Vida, 30, her nine-year-old son Kayden Kovalcik, and Vida’s cousin, Jasmin Hock, 28, went missing after they went tubing on the Muskegon River in Newaygo County, Michigan on Tuesday
The trio was thankfully found by Michigan State Police K9s and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) around 4.30pm on Friday. (Pictured: Jazmin Hock)
Two tubes believed to belong to the missing people were found on Thursday evening after officials went up and down the river, Michigan State Police Lt Pat Agema told Fox 17.
DNR officials soon realized small child-sized footprints in the grass near a pile of logs along the riverbank on Friday and called in extra reinforcements to track them, the outlet reported.
When officials followed the tracks deep into the wilderness, they found the missing tubers, the report stated.
Agema said he is elated that the 72-hour search for the family ended in a good outcome.
‘I’m feeling elated, and I’m feeling elated for the family as well,’ Agema told the station.
‘I was the point of contact for two of the family members, and I was speaking to them, and it was what a relief to give them good news, and that really really made me feel good.’
The three family members were taken to the hospital, and according to Agema, they were talking but clearly exhausted from their days in the elements.
When officials followed the tracks along the riverbank deep into the wilderness, they found the missing tubers
Brent Kovalcik, the father of the nine-year-old, also said in a Facebook post that they all suffered ‘minor to moderate injuries
‘They’re in rough shape right now. You know, they’re dehydrated. They’ve been out in the wilderness, mosquitoes and all the elements for 72 hours now.
‘So they are being transported to the hospital, and they are going to be evaluated and be released from there,’ he said.
They are all expected to recover, the outlet said.
Brent Kovalcik, the father of the nine-year-old, also said in a Facebook post on Friday that they all suffered ‘minor to moderate injuries.’
He went on to thank all the people who assisted in the successful search and rescue.
‘It took a village to make a miracle happen and that is what the human race is capable of when we work united not divided,’ Kovalcik said.
While the three of them were missing, worried family members and friends took to Facebook to spread the word about their disappearance.
On Thursday, Kovalcik posted: ‘I have experienced many highs and lows in my life, but nothing comes even remotely close to the fear and pain that I am going through.
‘I would give anything to have it be me instead of jazz, sarah and my son kayden without hesitation.’
Margie Christie, another worried local, shared at the time that Hock suffers from epilepsy and was without her medication.
After they were found, Christie joined several others rejoicing in the great news.
‘Thank you everyone for all the prayers. They are with us now. They are in the hospital getting treatment,’ she said, adding that ‘they have so many cuts on them’ and that they ‘can’t walk.’
The Daily Mail contacted the Michigan State Police and the Michigan DNR for comment.
