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Missing Ontonagon man found alive, stuck

ONTONAGON — Carl Thomas Kettunen, a 66-year-old from Trout Creek, was found alive Friday afternoon with his Orange Honda Rancher off-road-vehicle.

The DNR led search began Thursday at about 10:30 p.m. and continued through the night after caregivers reported him missing. He was last seen at about 6 p.m. when caregivers heard him leave his home after dinner, the DNR reported in a release.

Issues arose when Kettunen was unable to return.

He suffers from medical issues involving his knees and legs and was unable to get back on his 4-wheeler after dismounting, said Ontonagon Sheriff’s Deputy John Hasenberg. Kettunen was discovered under the 4-wheeler but the vehicle had not flipped onto him as initially thought.

The search was made difficult by rainfall obscuring Kettunen’s tracks. He was located north of M-28 near Agate Road about 12:50 p.m. Friday.

Once extracted, Kettunen was transferred by ambulance to Aspirius Ontonagon hospital.

“He seemed to be doing very well,” Hasenberg said.

A Civil Air Patrol plane was aloft as a part of the search with two other aircraft on standby.

Responding agencies included the DNR, local firefighters, Superior Search and Rescue, Ontonagon County Sheriff’s Office, Michigan State Police, MI-TRALE and volunteers from Trout Creek and Kenton.

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