Body cam footage shows rescue of three Michigan tubers along Muskegon River

Three tubers who went missing along the Muskegon River in West Michigan last week are recovering following a three-day search and rescue.

In an update on Monday, Aug. 10, Michigan State Police said that two women, Jazman Hock and Sarah Vida, remain in the hospital for treatment but are expected to be released soon. The third person, 9-year-old Kayden Kovalcik, has since been released and is at home.

The three were found on Friday, Aug. 7, after the group was last seen tubing along the river in Newaygo County. An investigation into their disappearance began on Aug. 5 when the family of one of the women discovered her vehicle parked at the Maple Island Boat Launch. At the time, the group had been missing for 24 hours.

"We are grateful to hear that all three are safe and receiving the care they need. We know the community has been following this situation closely and appreciates an update," MSP's Sixth District said in a social media post.

On Monday, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources released body cam footage showing conservation officers walking through a heavily wooded area with tall grass. The four-minute video showed the officers yelling out to the group, asking them to "make some noise," and voices could be heard. 

Officers followed the group's voices until they reached them, with MSP joining in the search.

"We got lost on the river," one of the women told the officers in the video. "We went to the river, and we were on the river for four hours."

In a statement, DNR Conservation Officer Cameron Wright said, "My partner and I work this area all the time, we know it 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.

"We could see in the middle of the log jam a path in the grass – the tubers came down some logs and went through water, then onto the riverbank and into the trees," Wright added. "We were able to see where they entered the woods and requested assistance once we located footprints in the mud. We followed the track, looking for areas where ferns were tipped over, grass was bent, sticks were snapped – all in a certain direction."