Parker Haire: MSU Student found dead near Sebewaing River after getting lost on New Year’s Day.
A Michigan State University student who went missing in the early hours of New Year’s Day has been found dead in the freezing waters of Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron.
Parker J. Haire, 21, called 911 for help on Tuesday morning, saying that he was cold, wet and somewhere near a factory, Mlive reported.
After the call disconnected, first responders mobilized, but were unable to find anything until a Michigan Sugar Co. worker reported Haire’s jeep stuck in the mud near the company property.
Authorities also searched an area of Tuscola County where Haire was believed to have attended a party the previous night or early morning.
Parker Haire missing MSU student: How did he end up along frozen river?
Haire would not be found until Wednesday morning when deputies on an airboat spotted the missing man’s body stuck waist deep in the shallow waters of Sebewaing River Point in the bay.
‘Typically in conditions of such, a human being is not able to survive over one hour when in cold water,’ Huron County Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson said.
The water temperatures were estimated to be just above freezing while air temperatures were in the teens and mid-20s on the nights Haire was lost.
‘This was over two miles from where the victim’s vehicle was found yesterday locked and stuck in the mud at Bay Shore Camp,’ Sheriff Hanson added.
Not immediately understood is how Haire ended up walking in the direction he had and how he found himself wading in the water.
Investigators said the MSU student had somehow ended up on the ice around Saginaw Bay and had kept walking until reaching a point where the ice could no longer support his weight.
From there- Haire sank into a marshy area of phragmites, an invasive species of tall grass that Sheriff Hanson says hid Haire from the view of search parties. Of note, the college student had also not been dressed properly for cold weather.
‘The family wishes to extend a sincere thank you to the many volunteers who offered support or gave assistance throughout this tragic ordeal,’ according to the sheriff.
Haire is listed on Michigan State’s website as a junior studying actuarial science.
Not immediately known was the degree of blood alcohol content in Haire’s system and other toxins he may have indulged during New Year’s eve revelries.
