NEWAYGO COUNTY, Michigan — A Michigan State Police K-9 team and Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers found two women and a 9-year-old alive Friday after a three-day search tied to a tubing trip on the Muskegon River.
Michigan State Police said the three were located safe at about 4:36 p.m. Aug. 7, approximately three-quarters of a mile northeast of the Mill Iron Road Boat Launch. The agency called it the outcome everyone involved had hoped for.
K-9 team and conservation officers made the find
The official update credits an MSP K-9 team and Michigan DNR conservation officers with locating the missing group. The announcement did not identify an individual dog or handler, so ThinBlueNews is not adding names that have not been publicly confirmed.
WDIV Local 4 reported that the group entered the water Tuesday, Aug. 4, from the Maple Island Boat Launch near Bridgeton. The search began after a family member found one woman’s vehicle at the launch and relatives reported they had not heard from the group.
Searchers later found inflatable tubes believed to belong to the missing group and evaluated footprints in the search area, according to WDIV and FOX 17 West Michigan.
A unified search across agencies
Michigan State Police thanked its Hart and Grand Rapids posts, Marine Services Team, K-9 Unit and Aviation Unit; the DNR Law Enforcement and Wildlife divisions; sheriff’s offices in Newaygo, Muskegon and Ottawa counties; local police and fire departments; county emergency services; search-and-rescue teams; and volunteers.
The agency said the participating responders established a unified command, shared resources and worked as one team. The successful discovery ended days of uncertainty with the three missing tubers alive and safe.
Privacy after a public search
Authorities publicly identified the missing people while the search was active. Because one is a child and Michigan State Police said no additional information would be released out of respect for privacy, ThinBlueNews is limiting this report to their ages and the verified rescue facts rather than repeating names or speculating about medical details.
Readers can find more verified acts of service in ThinBlueNews’ police hero stories, police rescue news and positive police news sections.
Sources and visual disclosure
- Michigan State Police West Michigan — official safe-recovery update, Aug. 7, 2026.
- WDIV Local 4 — “Missing tubers found alive and safe after dayslong search along Muskegon River,” Aug. 7, 2026.
- FOX 17 West Michigan — “Three missing tubers found alive,” Aug. 7, 2026.
Visual note: The official social update and local reports were used for facts only. ThinBlueNews did not copy an agency social image, station image or other third-party pixels. The featured image is an original, plainly labeled editorial diagram and is not an exact map or incident image.
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