UPDATE: Overnight tubing trip ends in rescue after separation on Plover River

By Brandi Makuski

TOWN OF HULL— A 63-year-old man was found safe Tuesday morning after an overnight search along the Plover River in the Town of Hull.

The Portage County Sheriff’s Office said a 48-year-old woman called dispatch at about 2:02 a.m. Tuesday to report her boyfriend missing after the two became separated while floating the Plover River on inflatable inner tubes.

The couple began their trip between 1 and 2 p.m. Monday at Jordan Park, 1903 County Hwy. Y, in the Town of Hull, according to an updated news release from the sheriff’s office.

The woman last saw the man sometime between 6 and 7 p.m. She exited the river at about 10:51 p.m. and spent more than three hours searching for him before calling authorities.

The sheriff’s office launched a large-scale search involving deputies, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wardens, the Plover and Stevens Point police departments, Stevens Point Fire Department, Hull Fire Department and Portage County Ambulance.

At about 7:14 a.m., residents in the 1400 block of Oxbow Road reported hearing someone yelling for help from near the river. They located the man, helped him out of the water and alerted emergency responders.

The man was evaluated by EMS at the scene and declined transport to a hospital after receiving precautionary medical treatment.

He later told deputies he became separated from the woman after stopping to rest while she continued floating downstream.

The sheriff’s office did not indicate whether alcohol, weather or river conditions played any role in the incident.