On September 3, 1983, 15-year-old Joseph Joey Michael Gutierrez of Detroit and his 16-year-old friend Christopher Jedra were left for an overnight camping trip near South Point in Sanborn Township on the shores of Lake Huron. The boys set up a tent about fifty feet from the shore; when Christopher’s parents returned the next day the camp was intact but both boys were gone. Their tent still contained boots and unrolled sleeping bags, pants were on the ground, and t-shirts and underwear hung on the tent. Their dog was found tied to the tent with water available and an empty food dish.

Search teams conducted ground, water, and air searches for more than two weeks. On September 19 Christopher’s body was found floating about half a mile from shore near North Point. Joseph Gutierrez was never located. Law enforcement’s prevailing theory is that both boys drowned while attempting to swim to Bird Island about half a mile offshore; reports note Joey was not a strong swimmer and the water between shore and the island was no deeper than twelve feet. A knife sheath was among the abandoned belongings.

Does anyone who was in the South Point or Bird Island area that weekend remember seeing the two boys, their dog, or anything that might explain what happened to Joseph?