Newborn's Body Found in Portable Toilet at Electric Forest Festival, Police Investigating
Michigan State Police are investigating after the body of a newborn was discovered inside a portable restroom on the campgrounds of the Electric Forest Festival in Rothbury, Michigan, over the weekend.
According to authorities, the discovery was made Sunday morning, June 28, by an employee of the company contracted to service the festival's portable toilets, who came across the body during what officials described as routine maintenance work. The unit in question was located within the festival's camping area, though police have not released additional details about the exact circumstances of the discovery.
In a statement shared on social media, Michigan State Police confirmed the investigation is active and ongoing, and appealed directly to the public for help. Investigators asked anyone who was in the area and noticed anything out of the ordinary, or who may have relevant information, to come forward. The department also urged people to avoid speculating about the case on social media, emphasizing respect for both the integrity of the investigation and those affected by the situation.
Electric Forest organizers responded later Sunday night, sharing the police department's statement on the festival's official Facebook page along with a brief message of their own, expressing that the festival's leadership team was heartbroken and acknowledging that the broader community of festivalgoers, often referred to by the event as its "Forest Family", likely felt the same way. Representatives for the festival did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
Electric Forest has taken place in Rothbury since 2008, when it first launched under the name Rothbury Music Festival before rebranding as Electric Forest in 2011. Over its run, the festival has built a reputation primarily around electronic dance music and DJ-driven lineups, though its bookings have periodically expanded to include jam bands, rock acts, pop artists, and hip-hop performers, drawing a broad cross-section of music fans to the wooded festival grounds each summer.
This isn't the first time the festival has been connected to a tragic and unresolved case. In 2018, a man from the Detroit area, later identified as Kevin Graves, went missing from the festival grounds under circumstances that were never fully explained at the time. His remains weren't recovered until January 2025, more than six years after his disappearance. A subsequent autopsy was unable to determine a definitive cause of death, though investigators noted there were no obvious signs of trauma found on the recovered bones, leaving many questions about what happened to him still unanswered.
The Michigan State Police investigation remains in its early stages, and officials have indicated that further updates will depend on cooperation from the public and the progress of forensic and investigative work in the days ahead.
