After surviving for two days alone in the Michigan wilderness, an 8-year-old kid was found.
After being lost in Michigan’s Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park on Monday, second-grader Nante Niemi from Wisconsin was discovered safe and well.
On Saturday afternoon in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Niemi vanished from his family’s camping close to the community of Wakefield. His family thought he had strayed off and gotten lost while gathering firewood.
His disappearance started a huge manhunt, which expanded to involve 150 search and rescue personnel and nine K9 teams to search the area on ground, air, and on Lake Superior.
Rescuers searched for two days in an area of about 40 square miles – just a small portion of the state park’s 60,000 acres of wilderness. Large portions of the park were still inaccessible to cars due to unmelted snow.
Eventually, Niemi was found at about two miles away from his family’s campsite.
Michigan State Police said Niemi survived a full two days in the wilderness by building a shelter out of leaves, branches, and a log, and eating snow to stay hydrated.
‘He braved the elements by taking shelter under a log where he was ultimately found,’ rescuers said. ‘He didn’t have any food but ate clean snow for hydration.’
On Sunday, Niemi began walking down a hiking trail, searching for his campsite. ‘When he ran out of trail, he figured the best thing to do was to just stop and wait,’ the Michigan State Police said. ‘They offered to carry him out today, but he told the guys who found him that he wanted to walk!’
He was eventually discovered by Eli Talsma, a family friend who was assisting with the search team.
‘First thing he did is he went to give me a fist bump, and we gave a fist bump, and we gave each other a big hug,’ Talsma told CBS Detroit. ‘And I said, “are you OK, is anything wrong?” He’s like, “No, I’m good. I’m just ready to go home.”‘