Two adults and a child who disappeared while tubing on a Michigan river found safe

Two women and a 9-year-old who disappeared while tubing on a Michigan river earlier this week were found safe Friday afternoon, authorities said.

A Michigan State Police K-9 team and state conservation officers found them at 4:36 p.m., nearly a mile away from a boat launch on the Muskegon River, state police said in a statement.

“This is the outcome everyone hoped for,” the agency said.

The relationship of the women, both 28, to the child was not immediately clear.

The statement did not provide additional information about their conditions or the circumstances of their disappearance.

The launch near where the trio was found is roughly seven miles southwest of a different boat launch, where a car belonging to one of the women was discovered with a window broken out, state police said in a statement Wednesday.

That woman’s father found the car and alerted authorities. At that point, the group had been missing for more than 24 hours and their relatives hadn’t been able to reach them, the agency said.

Two of their tubes and footprints were found Thursday, the agency said.

Nearly two-dozen state police posts, law enforcement agencies and other government departments assisted in the search, state police said Friday. Volunteers were also involved, the agency said.