Kevin Graves

OCEANA COUNTY, MI - Just when the leader of a search effort began to believe Kevin Graves, who went missing from Electric Forest in early July, was dead, he got information that buoyed hopes that Graves actually is alive.

Ron Adkins, director of Shiawassee Search and Rescue, said two witnesses reported seeing Graves at a Whitehall restaurant a few days after he was reported missing from the music festival on July 1.

The first witness approached Adkins' search team on July 31 as it was launching a third effort to find the missing 28-year-old from Oakland County. In all, more than 100 volunteers have searched more than 2,000 acres near Rothbury in Oceana County.

The woman stopped by the SSAR staging area near the festival grounds on the Double JJ Resort, and reported that a man matching Graves' description was seen at the San Marco's Mexican Restaurant on East Colby Street about three days after his disappearance, Adkins said.

Searchers went to the restaurant, where an employee remembered the barefoot man in dirty tan shorts using the establishment's phone for about a half hour, he said.

The first woman reported the man seemed to be under the influence of drugs, and was arguing with someone on the phone, Adkins said. She said the man also had been begging outside the restaurant, he said.

It was the sighting that searchers and Graves' family members had been hoping for. When announcing the July 31 search effort, Adkins posted on Facebook that the effort had turned into one of recovery, rather than rescue.

Adkins said he made that prediction because of the length of time Graves has been missing without a credible sighting. Graves' girlfriend reported that he went missing after an argument - telling her he was going back to their tent in the festival camping area - and that he was using heavy drugs, Adkins said.

Adding to the belief that Graves may be alive - and has since left the area - is the fact that a friend of his from California was staying in the Rodeway Inn adjacent to the San Marcos restaurant, Adkins said. A pair of tan shorts was found outside that hotel, he said.

The friend from California is not answering his cell phone, which may be turned off, Adkins said.

Whitehall, where the restaurant and hotel are located, is about 10 miles from the site of the music festival.

For now, SSAR has suspended searches for Graves, though it did send some people on Aug. 8 to investigate an area that was suggested by a festival security guard, Adkins said.

He said it's up to Graves' family to decide if they want more searches to be conducted.

So far, volunteers have searched 2,000 acres of Double JJ and surrounding property, including seven lakes and 8 miles of U.S. 31 as well as surrounding trails and roads.

Kevin Graves has blond hair and blue eyes and is about 6 feet tall and 185 pounds. He has a USMC tattoo on his left shoulder, and his left ear is pierced.

Anyone with information about Graves' whereabouts is asked to call 911, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office at (248) 848-4950, the Michigan State Police Hart Post (231) 873-2171 or Mason Oceana Central Dispatch (231) 869-5858.