The Michigan Department of Natural Resources released body camera footage showing how rescue teams last week found two women and a 9-year-old boy who had been stranded for three days after their river tubing trip went wrong near a river in west Michigan.
In the footage, a search team pushes through dense, shoulder-high brush when a trooper yells out: “Make some noise!” A boy’s scream can be heard in the distance. “We’re coming, guys,” says Cameron Wright, a conservation officer from Newaygo County, his breath heard in ragged gasps.
The team picks up its pace, pushing through sharp switchgrass and stinging nettle. Moments later, they find Sarah Vida, 28, and her son Kayden Kovalcik, 9, along with Jazmin Hock, 28 — all wearing just their swimming suits.
Hock’s legs are almost entirely covered in deep, red cuts from scrapes after walking for days through the brush. The group has a broken phone and a single water bottle with only a few sips left.
The footage documents the end of a three-day search. Rescue teams found the group in the brush wearing only their swimming suits, with a broken phone and only a few sips of water left.