Missing tubers found: 3 disappear after Muskegon River trip, including 9-year-old boy
Image courtesy WZZM
Authorities in Michigan say three people who haven’t been seen since they were tubing along the Muskegon River on the west side of the state have been found Friday afternoon.
Missing tubers Muskegon River
What we know:
The Michigan State Police and other local authorities have been searching this week for three people who were reported missing on the Muskegon River.
The individuals were:
- Jazzmin Hock, 28
- Sarah Vida, 28
- Kayden Kovalcik, 9
Michigan State Police say the three were found ¾ of a mile in the woods from the river, alive. Their conditions are unknown at this time.
The backstory:
Family members haven’t been able to contact them, and one of the women’s fathers called police after seeing her car at the Maple Island Boat Launch with a window broken out, Michigan State Police said.
Police said Thursday evening that investigators found two inflatable tubes and footprints.
They were on the river searching, as well as several boaters and drones from above. The area is popular for tubers and has accumulated debris from the traffic over time.
WZZM reported the tubing trip happened on Tuesday, and the missing were a mother, her son and her cousin.
What we don't know:
Michigan State Police haven’t provided photos of those missing, but the family provided some photos to WZZM.
Image courtesy WZZM
What they're saying:
Brent Kovalcik, Kayden's father and Vida's ex-husband, told WZZM he didn’t know they went tubing until late Wednesday afternoon.
"I can’t figure out for the life of me why you wouldn’t tell your end point where you were planning on being," he said. "We knew that you started here, but where were you going after that?"
Local perspective:
The Muskegon River starts at Houghton Lake in Roscommon County and ends at Muskegon Lake, which empties into Lake Michigan.
It’s more than 200 miles long and attracts recreational tubing, kayaking and canoeing.
The Source: Information in this article was taken from Michigan State Police, and WZZM in Grand Rapids who spoke to the ex-husband and father of two of the missing people.