Boy Who Went Missing at State Park Sheltered Under Log

Nante Niemi spent 2 nights in the Michigan wilderness but is fine
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2023 12:10 PM CDT
2nd-Grader Survives 2 Nights in Michigan Wilderness
8-year-old Nante Niemi with a rescuer.   (Michigan State Police)

If you had a less-than-stellar weekend, 8-year-old Nante Niemi has got one up on you. The second-grader was camping with his family in Michigan's Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park when he went missing Saturday afternoon while collecting firewood, reports the Detroit News. More than 150 rescuers combed roughly 40 square miles by land, air, and water over the course of two days, but Monday dawned with no sign of Nante. Then on Monday afternoon, came the break: A volunteer spotted Nante under a log, about two miles from where he had been camping. "I just ran up to him and I gave him the biggest hug," volunteer rescuer Eli Talsma tells Today.

"He had braved the elements by taking shelter under a log where he was ultimately found. He is in good health and reunited with his family,” Michigan State Police said. Temperatures had slipped into the 40s over the two nights Nante spent in the woods, but he appeared none the worse for the wear—just a little dirty, notes Today. Per the AP, the Hurley School District in Wisconsin, where Nante is a student, was elated by the rescue. "Words can not describe the emotions and joy the students and staff are experiencing at this moment!" the district said on Facebook. Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, often called "the Porkies," is Michigan's largest state park with 60,000 acres, notes the News. (This woman survived five days in the Australian Outback with a bottle of wine and some lollipops.)

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