LUCE COUNTY, MI-- Two people who tried to paddle down the Tahquamenon River got lost and spent the night in the park after their canoe overturned Sunday.
Ezequiel Gianfranco, 19, of Homestead, Florida and Nathalie Hoste-Skrzypek, 20, of Chicago were reported missing by friends Sunday night after they failed to meet up with the group downstream. As DNR Conservation Officers and park rangers searched the river, the overdue canoeists were able to make a short phone call to their friends. They said the canoe had overturned but they had made it to shore and were walking an ORV trail, trying to get back to the falls. The battery in their phone then died.
At 8:45 p.m. searchers found the canoe at a remote campsite with an ORV trail leading from it. The DNR, park personnel and a Coast Guard helicopter searched a seven-mile radius from the site, but found nothing. The search was suspended around 4 a.m.
It resumed at 8:30 a.m. Monday, and around 10:15 a.m. Gianfranco and Skrzypek were seen coming down the river in a good Samaritan’s boat. The two had found a cabin, entered through the window and spent the night.
They were reported to be in good condition.
