Missing dad found dead after vanishing during family trip at Michigan resort, cops say

UPDATE: A 52-year-old father who went missing during a family trip in Michigan has been found dead, police say.

Robert Loren Bacon was staying with family at the Bavarian Inn resort, in Frankenmuth, when he disappeared on the evening of Friday, Dec. 27, police said.

Over a week later, at 2 p.m. Jan. 4, dive teams found and recovered Bacon’s body from the nearby Cass River, the Frankenmuth Police Department said in a news release.

“The preliminary cause of death appears to be drowning, but a final determination will be made by the Saginaw County Medical Examiner’s Office. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Bacon’s death is ongoing,” police said.

Original story continues below:

A search is underway for a father who vanished during a family trip at a Michigan resort, police and relatives say.

The missing man, 52-year-old Robert Loren Bacon, was last seen the evening of Friday, Dec. 27, at the Bavarian Inn — a family-oriented resort and hotel in Frankenmuth, according to officials.

“My poor kids, our kids, I don’t know what to tell. They ask, ‘Mom, have they found him yet?’ and I just say, ‘No, we’re still looking,’” ex-wife Melissa McLenna said of her and Bacon’s 15- and 13-year-old daughters, WNEM reported.

McLenna turned to social media to spread the word about Bacon, asking anyone who might have seen him to call investigators.

“If anybody hears from him please let us know, our girls are extremely upset and worried about their dad,” McLenna said in a Dec. 29 Facebook post.

Bacon was about to join his family at the pool around the time he disappeared, she said.

“(He) was going to his car to get something and was coming back to the pool area to join his family. He never returned to his family at the pool,” McLenna said, adding that his car is still in the parking lot of the Bavarian Inn and “(his) cell phone is going straight to voice mail.”

He was last seen at 7:20 p.m., she said.

Bacon is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and weighs roughly 150 pounds, according to McLenna.

Security cameras recorded some of Bacon’s movements leading up to his disappearance, but they didn’t capture where he went, McLenna told WNEM.

“(Investigators) have video showing him going to the fun center after leaving the hotel room, never coming back to his car. They don’t have any video showing he exited the building,” she told the station. “However, there are exits without cameras.”

McClatchy News reached out to McLenna and to the Frankenmuth Police Department for updates in the case, but didn’t immediately hear back.

Anyone with information on Bacon’s whereabouts is asked to contact Frankenmuth police at 989-652-8371, the department said in a Facebook post.

Frankenmuth is a roughly 90-mile drive northwest from Detroit.

This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 7:55 AM with the headline "Missing dad found dead after vanishing during family trip at Michigan resort, cops say."