By John Agar
mlive.com
NEWAYGO COUNTY, Mich. – As rescuers neared the three missing Muskegon County rafters, a state Department of Natural Resources conservation officer heard their voices.
“Oh my God, really?” he said.
He yelled for them to put their hands up so they could find them. He heard a young boy calling out.
“Stand by,” he radioed. “Man, we got visuals. We’re coming, guys. Oh, God. Oh, my God. All three? Do we have three? All three are up.”
Related: ‘We knew the clock was ticking:’ Rescuers track missing Muskegon River rafters
The rescue was recorded by body-worn cameras as conservation officers - Anna Cullen, Seth Rhodea and Cameron Wright – and a state police K-9 trooper found the rafters on Friday, Aug. 7.
Jazmin Hock, 28, her cousin, Sarah Vida, 30, and Vida’s son, Kayden Kovalcik, 9, went missing Tuesday, August 4, after their inflatable rafts deflated. They reached shore but could not find their way out of the vegetation and woods.
Kayden appeared eager to talk to the rescuers.
“We got lost on the river,” he said. “We went to the river and we were on the river for four hours.”
An officer gave his shirt to one of the women and asked if she could walk. Her legs were cut up and bleeding from sharp grasses.
“I’m forcing myself to,” she said.
They had gone rafting on the river, starting at the Maple Island boat launch in Newaygo County, near the Muskegon County line. They ate flower petals, tree bark and drank water while trying to find help.
They were found less than a mile from the Iron Mill boat launch.
Hock’s sister, Amanda Christie, told MLive that the three did not know if rescuers were coming.
“They could only hope,” she said.
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