It was Hidden in the River | Ep. 83

0:00This episode is brought to you by Quinn's dot com. Go to Quinn's dot com slash miracle files to show your support. Michigan State Police has multiple divisions searching right now for three people who have been missing for nearly two days 28 year old Jasmine Hock 28 year old Sarah Vita and nine year old Kaden Koval check. I don't know if they're alive. I don't know if they're kidnapped. I don't know if they're down the river far far away. It's been nearly two days and no one has any clue. This is the miracle files. I'm Emily Jones and I'm Holly Worthington. Sometimes the news and social media can feel pretty dark and true crime can leave you afraid to even crawl into bed. But we're here to prove that there are more miracles than murders. In these special miracles in the news episodes, we dig through the headlines for you because miracles still happen and God is still good. Welcome back to miracles in the news. Okay, Emily, today's

1:04story is about something that we've done as a family many times and that's tubing down a river. Yeah, we actually just did that this fourth of your life with my kids. I didn't know that. So fun. Little sketchy, but so fun. Little sketchy. Why was it sketchy? They were like just it was a lot harder to maneuver than we thought it would be. There were tons of logs and debris. The water was really fast, but it was okay. Well, you're going to kind of relate to this story then. So we start this story with three people who are setting out for what is supposed to be a fun relaxing summer afternoon in Western Michigan. It's a Tuesday and 28 year old cousins, Jasmine Hawk and Sarah Vita decide to take Sarah's nine year old son, Caden, tubing with them down the Muskegon River. It's not white water like you were doing or anything. We weren't doing white water, but it was fast. Okay. There's no rapids or anything. Okay. They're expecting the whole trip to only take about four hours. Well, that's funny because ours also took four hours. So okay. The three took off

2:08from the Maple Island boat launch Northeast of Muskegon. However, Hawk says they only brought rafts that were meant to be used in a pool. Well, that's the first difference between their experience behind because we've got enough to know that pool tubes and river tubes are not the same. I've seen many a popped tube in my day. Oh, they didn't know. I have too. But unfortunately, neither Jasmine or Sarah has ever gone river, river tubing before. Yeah. And they're just spontaneous looking for something fun to do. So they start floating downstream and pretty quickly things begin to go wrong. There are a lot of fallen trees and log jams, like you mentioned, along the river and the three of them, as they make their way down, they keep running into these log jams. And logs are like the only thing that really scare me on a river. I mean, they can be really dangerous. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fallen trees in a river can be really dangerous. And in fact, I don't know if you

3:09remember Emily, but when I was younger, in fact, you might not have been born yet, but we went rafting. I don't remember. He probably don't. But we went rafting with another family and some of their family members got sucked under a tree, a fallen tree with their raft. And luckily, they all survived, but it was so terrifying waiting for them to come out. Yeah. The other side of that, it was so scary. Yeah. So I wasn't there for that, but I know it can happen. Yeah. It is scary. Really dangerous. Right. So Jasmine and Sarah and Caden managed to get around the first few log jams, but eventually they come to another very difficult log jam. And this time, they make it through, but their tubes, not so lucky. They were enjoying a day of tubing on the Mesquigan River when their tubes were all punctured by logs. The rafts, they were on broke, leaving them stranded along the Mesquigan River. Jasmine had her phone, but it fell in the water, leaving them with no way to call for help and no easy way out. So where are they? Like, are they out in the middle of nowhere? Are they next

4:12to like a town? Yeah. Yeah. That's the problem. They floated into a stretch of the river that is incredibly remote. And there are no houses nearby, no roads, no obvious trails, just miles of forest swamp and incredibly, incredibly thick vegetation. So now Jasmine, Sarah and nine year old Kaden are stranded along the Mesquigan River with no tubes and no way to call for help. So Emily, at this point, what would you do? Well, are there other like, are there other tubers on the river? No, none. As I've mentioned, this was on a Tuesday. And unfortunately, they haven't seen anyone else. Okay. Well, I guess you start walking. Yeah. That's exactly what they do. Yep. So they decide their best option is to leave the river and try to walk down, took back towards their car. Okay. But the terrain is brutal. Like I mentioned, and there's sharp switchgrass that slices your skin and poison ivy. And Jasmine, Sarah and

5:13Kaden are trying to push their way through this wearing swimming suits. Oh my gosh. And they're barefoot. So they walk and walk, hoping they're getting closer to the car. But eventually they realize something terrifying. They have no idea where they are. And they are completely lost. Man, it's crazy how fast, like just a fun, ordinary day. Right? Something so terrifying. Yeah. And meanwhile, back home, nobody knows that any of this is even happening. Neither woman lives with anyone who's expecting them home that evening. So when they don't return, no one knows, no one notices. Jasmine, Sarah and Kaden end up spending the night in the swampy woods. Gosh, I'm sure that was miserable. Like I hate camping. I know people love it, but it's not my thing. And I go in a tent with a cot and a sleeping bag like I can't imagine. I actually like camping, but more like glamping than camp regular camping. Just that count. I mean, a trailer or a cabin is better for

6:14me. I don't think that counts. I'm pretty sure that doesn't count. But no, but I'm sure it was awful for these people to be out there. And so while no one knows that they're even missing, there is one thing that's about to raise the alarm. Jasmine is scheduled to have surgery the next day. And when she doesn't show up, her mom realizes that something has gone wrong. Jasmine and Sarah haven't told anyone their exact plans. But Jasmine's mom does recall that they had mentioned something about going tubing. So family and friends immediately begin going from boat launch to boat launch, searching for any sign of the missing tubers. And eventually they find their car at the Maple Island boat launch. But Jasmine, Sarah and Caden are nowhere to be found. And there's another disturbing detail. One of the windows of the vehicle is smashed. What? Yeah. Did like did somebody break into their car? Well, actually nobody knows yet. And that's what makes the situation even scarier.

7:20You have three missing people and a abandoned vehicle and a broken window. Everyone is left to wonder like did something happen to these guys on the river? Are they injured somewhere? Did they drown? And official search is organized. But as the hours pass, there's still no sign of Jasmine, Sarah or Caden. Search crews spend the rest of Wednesday looking for them. But as darkness falls, the search is temporarily suspended until morning. Caden's dad and Sarah's ex-husband, Brent Kovalczyk, makes a statement to the media. I don't know if they're alive. I don't know if they're kidnapped. I don't know if they're down the river far, far away. It's been nearly two days and no one has any clue. That would be so hard. As a parent, not having any clue where your son is would be so hard. Yeah, I know. And as time is passing, there's another series concerned, Jasmine has epilepsy. Oh my goodness. She doesn't have her medications. So now the clock is really ticking.

8:29So Emily and I have been having so much fun looking at all of the different items that they have on Quinn's.com. Yeah, you actually got a cashmere sweater and I got cashmere gloves, which I'm super excited about. I've been looking for really good params. They are super soft. They're very lightweight, but cashmere keeps your hands a lot warmer than cotton. So I'm going to keep them in my car. The kids are not allowed to touch mom's gloves. They're going to see them. No, they will. I know. All right. We'll find the fall pieces. You'll reach for most at Quinn's. Download the Quinn's app for app exclusive offers or go to Quinn's.com slash miracle files. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Quinn's is now available in Canada and the UK too. That's qiuince.com slash miracle files. Thursday morning, the search continues. Michigan State Police conservation officers and other agencies scour the river and the surrounding wilderness. They use

9:32boats, drones, dogs, helicopters, people on the ground, but still no sign of the three tubers anywhere. Word begins to spread and Facebook groups are created. Friends, family, strangers, lots of people begin to pray for these three tubers to be found. But also speculation is starting to form. Some people begin to question if Brent Kolbaltchek, Sarah's ex-husband could somehow be involved in the disappearance of the three. And meanwhile, Brent continues to plead with the media for help and answers. All I have is millions of questions and all I'm hearing is silence because there's no one that has a clue of what's going to happen or what started it in the first place. The last picture I got of my son was four days ago of him at Craig's cruisers with Sarah having a great time. That might be the last picture I ever get. It would be agonizing just to have no answers. And you

10:36can hear how emotional he is. How scared he is. I mean, assuming he has nothing to do with this. Yeah. Yeah. So searchers begin working their way along the river. And finally, they find something. The tubes deflated and abandoned. Honestly, I'm surprised it took them like more than a day to find. Yeah. Well, this is a big river. And I think that the tubes, you know, because they were on a log jam, were probably difficult to see. But when the searchers do find the tubes, they know that they probably belong to the missing people. Right. Right. And they assume that the tubes had maybe like floated down into the log jam or gotten blown up there by the wind. So they keep searching all along the river, hoping that they're finally on the right track. But once again, it takes all data search and nothing. As night falls, family and friends are still praying. They're sharing what information they have on social media. But there's not much to update. It's now Friday morning, three days

11:39into the search. And things are looking very grim. Here's Jasmine's sister, Lindsay Christie. I'm really hoping that they find her today. I'm really worried for my sister because she has medical problems. She has epilepsy. And I'm worried for Caden. And I don't want them to be cold. And I'm just hoping that they find them safe. I mean, all these people just have to sit around and wait. That would be so hard, just like it'd be so hard to wait. Not having any control over the situation. Yeah. So two of the people searching for the three missing tubers are Michigan conservation officers, Cameron Wright and Anna Cullen. And they know how serious this situation is. We were told that morning that with their situation, the conditions we had, that they had less than a 10% chance of survival that morning. I gosh. I mean, I guess, yeah, like statistically, the longer it goes, the less likely it is that they will find them. But 10% is shocking. That's crazy. Yeah.

12:44Well, it was also because of the extreme conditions of the wilderness there. But anyway, as Cameron, Anna and other officers continue searching on Friday, Cameron keeps coming back to those tubes that were on the log jam. Something about it just doesn't make sense. One of the tubes hadn't simply gotten caught in the log jam. It looked like somebody had maybe laid it up on top of the log jam. And he starts to wonder, what if someone had actually pulled it up over the log? One of their inner tubes down on this log jam was actually pulled up and over. One of the logs was sitting on top of them. And I couldn't make sense of that at first. I thought maybe the wind had blown it up there. I talked to Anna about my idea of someone possibly pulling that tube up onto this log jam. And after we had a conversation, she said, let's go check it. She cheered me on, supported me. Smart. Right. So as Cameron and Anna go back to that spot, they notice something that they hadn't before. There's disturbed grass near the shore and a little faint

13:49trail that looks like somebody may have crawled out of the river there and moved through it. So they follow that little faint trail. And finally, they see something else. Footprints in the mud and not just any footprints, but the footprints of a child. So the officers keep going, but the trail isn't obvious. They're looking for any tiny disturbances, basically like a broken twig, you know, grass that's bent in a certain direction. Anything that doesn't look quite right. And they follow those clues further and further into the woods. And here's where everything finally takes a turn. And thankfully, Cameron right is wearing a body camera so that we can actually see in here what happens next. The officers are pushing their way through shoulder high grass. I mean, this is really tall stuff. And they think they hear faint voices. So one of them calls out. Stop, make some noise.

14:52No. Yes. Sounds before and 32 sounds. We're getting close. Yeah, so that's when they hear it. Somewhere in the distance, they hear a child yelling back to them. So the officers start moving towards the sound and you can hear they're just out of breath and so exhausted, but they fight their way through. And one of them calls out again. How many do you have with you? How many? Someone else in a child. Stay there. Hey firm, stand by until we get visual on them.

15:57Hey, let's stop. Good y'all. They're just beyond that field. Oh my gosh, that is some dense terrain. Like it's not just tall grass, it's tall trees and tall bushes and like they're having to forge a path through this thick foliage. I know. So the officers keep going. They're following the voices. They can't see anyone yet. Right. But finally, after three days of searching, they catch a glimpse of someone through the grass and trees. And on the body cam, you can tell that Cameron Wright can barely believe what he is seeing. Stand by. Come in, we got visuals. We're coming guys. Do we have three?

17:00All three are up. We got lots of windows. We went to the river and we were on the river's four hours. You have to go now, though. Yeah, dude. I'm going to show you how to do it. Holy crap, man. Why is that? You can hear how exhausted this man is and then they walk up to this woman and you can see that she just like embraces these officers. She's so relieved to have been found. Yes, yes. And all three of them, Jasmine Sarah and Kaden are alive and they are okay. I mean, not in great shape, but they're okay. They've wandered so far into the woods that they eventually just had lost all sense of direction. And their condition shows just how close this situation came to a very

18:01different ending. Their skin is covered in mud. They have scratches all over them. I mean, just everywhere on their bodies, Jasmine's legs, especially are just badly cut and shaking. Sarah has wandered into such thick brush that they actually have to take a chainsaw to cut her out. And these women are so exhausted. They cannot walk out themselves and they have a long trek ahead of them. So they all stop for a minute while they wait for help to arrive. And meanwhile, little Kaden is so thirsty and he's so excited to see his rescuers that he begins putting in his order for a variety of drinks. I want to go milk. I want milk. I want orange juice. What do you want the most? What do you want to do? What do you want to do? I want ice water.

19:01This is what we've been talking about. And orange juice. I'll tell you what, we'll try to get you a ruby. I bet you we can... I bet you we can con some people in to get new ruby. You're pretty quick. There's a lot of people excited to see you and you're probably going to get what you want for the next couple of weeks when you ask. I bet you anything. I have what the your mountain do. Like I had my phone with her freaking phone. So cute. This sweet boy, like you can tell how thirsty he is. Like I could never even think of that many drinks to list off. And it's just like, it is something that... Oh my goodness. This boy. I mean, I cannot imagine what this family has gone through and you can see this woman's legs too are just... I know. Absolutely torn apart, like scratches everywhere. Yeah. Yeah, they have faced some miserable conditions. Yeah. Without knowing if they were ever going to be found. I know. Thank goodness for these officers and you know, their perseverance and you can tell they're so tired, but they don't care about themselves. All they're concerned about is this family. Yeah, they take off their own shirts even and put them over the skin of these poor,

20:05these three tubers that have just been miserable. And they even take medical gloves and put them over their hands and feet. Just like whatever they have. And eventually, Jasmine and Sarah are carried out in rescue baskets. And Cameron puts Caden on his own back and carries him out. And it's such an incredible moment. That's sweet. What a hero. What a good person. Yeah. The helps that, you know, strangers. Yeah. And all three of the tubers are taken to the hospital. And while Caden just... He's released relatively quickly. Jasmine and Sarah remain in the hospital for several days. They're receiving treatment for infections and dehydration and painful rashes and yeah, just everything from their time and the wilderness. But eventually, all three return home. And after the rescue, one of the women on Facebook who's been sharing updates, she posts, thank you everyone for all the prayers. They are with us now. And multiple people begin to call this rescue a miracle.

21:09Jasmine's mother did an interview over the phone. She says, after spending days fearing the worst, the survival feels like nothing short of a miracle. They ate flowers that were floating on the water. Caden, the little one didn't like it. So she ate bark and ants. My gosh, I'm sure after like, you know, bark ants and flowers, you were sound in real nice. I don't believe you, Caden. That's what I would choose. Yeah, get that boy root bear. It is such a miracle to me that searchers found these three. And they were hidden in one of the deepest, like most remote areas along the river. And if Cameron hadn't questioned that one little clue, that two being pulled up on the log, it is really unlikely that these three would have ever been found. Yeah. And I also keep thinking about that surgery appointment that this woman had the next day. Like if she didn't have that appointment, if she didn't have anything on her schedule, no one would have known that they were missing.

22:09They went them down. You think about something that she probably wasn't looking forward to at all. And yet it became the thing that alerted people they were missing. Yeah, I actually read it was a dental surgery. So I'm sure she was not looking forward to that. Yeah, but it turns out that's what ended up being a miracle for her. Yeah. And Caden's father definitely believes it's a miracle. He expresses his gratitude to the public and says it took a village to make a miracle happen. Yeah, for sure. And here's Cameron Wright, the conservation officer who noticed that tube, strangely propped up on the log jam, reflecting back on the way that they found Jasmine Sarah and Caden. There was just a miraculous feeling his only way I can describe it just a complete miracle. An absolute miracle, I definitely agree. Absolutely. Yeah. And there's another part of this story that I think's worth talking about. It's fall in Jeep country and during the driving to fall sales event, get a great deal on four by fours that refuse to be contained, like Jeep Wrangler.

23:10Confidence built into every drive with the most awarded SUV ever, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and freedom that can't be denied with the open air freedom in Jeep Gladiator. After 85 years, it's no surprise that Jeep became America's SUV brand. Get a great deal during the Jeep driving to fall sales event. Jeep is one more awards over its lifetime than any other SUV brand, and Jeep and the Jeep Grille Registered trademarts of FCA US LLC. While Jasmine Sarah and Caden were missing, people online began spreading all sorts of rumors, like speculating about Sarah's ex-husband Brent, and some even accused him of killing the three. And of course, none of that was true. And after the rescue, Brent specifically warned people about this kind of thing, about spreading rumors online. And I think it's a good reminder about situations like this. When we don't know, when we don't have all the information, we need to be really careful about filling in the blanks ourselves. When no, this poor man is already missing his son, and then on top of that, to be accused of being responsible,

24:13yeah, I mean, it turns out, internet detectives are not always right. They don't always have all the answers. No, they are definitely not. So wait, what happened with the car that got broken into, or the window that broke? Okay, so that was completely random. Like, someone did break into their vehicle while they were gone, but it turns out that the break in had absolutely nothing to do with the disappearance. That's so weird. Yeah. For coincidence. I know, right? Strange. But fortunately, what really matters is that these three tubers, after days in the wilderness were found and rescued. Absolutely. Well, thanks everyone for joining us today. If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure to share it with someone who could use some hope. And as always, subscribe. Leave us a review if you haven't already. And we'll leave you with one final clip from Jasmine's mother. Have a great week, everyone. Something inside of me was saying, they're going to be okay. They're lost. They're going to come home. And they did.

25:14Remember those ants, flowers, and tree bark. These three were snacking on for three days. Well, now, family says they're home and have enjoyed some of their favorites, including pizza, ice cream, and slushies. Thank you for joining us. If you have a miracle to share contact us at themericalfiles.com or find us on social media, we release new episodes each Monday. Yeah, so don't forget Miracle Mondays. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and YouTube for amazing video content as well. Join us next time as we discover more of God's miracles. And don't forget to look for his light in your own lives. Hey, it's Kelly Rowland. You may not know this, but I have Exema. So I get how it can steal your time. But why let Exema take over when you can talk to your doctor about Epglyce? Epglyce, Lebrichizema, LBKZ, a 250-mg per 2-mL injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older,

26:16who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kg with moderate to severe Exema. Also called a topic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin, or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies, Epglyce can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you are allergic to Epglyce. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have newer worsening eye problems, you should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Epglyce. Before starting Epglyce, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Paid partnership with Lily. Respect your time. Ask your doctor about Epglyce and visit Epglyce.com. Or call 1-800-LilyRX or 1-800-545-5979. It's fall in Jeep country, and during the driving to fall sales event, get a great deal on 4x4s that refuse to be contained, like Jeep Wrangler, confidence built into every drive with the most awarded SUV ever, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and freedom that can't be denied, with the open air freedom and Jeep Gladiator. After 85 years, it's no surprise that Jeep became America's SUV brand.

27:17Get a great deal during the Jeep driving to fall sales event. Jeep is one more awards over its lifetime than any other SUV brand, Jeep and the Jeep Grill or Registered trademarts of FCAUS LLC.