Boy who went missing in Michigan ate snow, sheltered under leaves and branches for warmth
Nante Niemi. Photo via Michigan State Police
ONTONAGON COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - When Nante Niemi was found after going missing in a remote state park in the Upper Peninsula, the 8-year-old refused to be carried.
Instead, the Wisconsin boy told the search and rescue team that discovered him that he'd rather walk.
Niemi was found after he went missing over the weekend when his family went camping in the Porcupine Mountains. Michigan State Police said he went missing on Saturday around 1 p.m. after he left to gather firewood for the family's campsite.
He went missing at approximately 1 p.m.
Rescue teams safely located Niemi around 1:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Monday approximately two miles from his campsite. Police said he had taken shelter under a log where he was ultimately found.
Niemi originally went looking for rescue on a trail after he went missing for a day. When he ran out of trail, according to state police, he "figured the best thing to do was to just stop and wait."
FOUND: 8-year-old boy back with family after going missing in Michigan's Porcupine Mountains
Niemi also told rescuers that he had covered himself with branches and leaves for warmth, blanketing the log he was under to weather the cold conditions that remain in the U.P.
He didn't have any food, but ate clean snow for hydration as well.