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COTTONWOOD — At 6 a.m. Tuesday, about 150 volunteers checked in at Mingus Union High School in Cottonwood to start the third morning of searching for Faith Moore.
The school has become a command post for the search for Moore, who was swept away in floodwaters that quickly grew higher than 8 feet Saturday night.
In the parking lot of the high school on Tuesday, other community members dropped off food, water and other items for officials and volunteers. Many others checked in to help throughout the day, according to Chad Sinn from the Cottonwood Police Department.
Some volunteers searched along the wash where Moore went missing, while others stayed at the post to help direct those who were just coming in or leaving.
Hundreds made their way out into the hot, sunny day to look for Moore, on foot and by other means. They joined about 100 officials conquering more technical aspects of the search, Sinn said. The mood was quiet as everyone focused on the task at hand.
Susan Rutherford, executive director of the Arizona Crisis Team, said she and her team were asked to come out to the post to help volunteers who might need someone to talk to, as well as help set up the food and water distribution.
Rutherford said the team started working at the post Tuesday and spoke to a couple dozen people throughout the day, adding that they have really seen the community come together.
“A lot of people want to provide practical support,” Rutherford said. “That is so common because they are trying to figure out what they can do to help in this situation.”
Volunteers describe digging in hip-deep mud
Daenyahn Geerer, 28, and Matthew Champ, 23, said they both began helping with the search for Moore on Sunday morning.
“We heard about it Sunday morning and just jumped out,” Geerer said, adding he started the search at Camino Real and has since worked his way down the Verde River to the Christina Draw.
Champ said that on Monday, search efforts were focused on checking through the mud trying to look for any signs or leads to Moore.
“We were in hip-deep mud, following the shore of the river,” he said. “Checking all the spots that the helicopter can’t reach.”
On Tuesday, Champ said efforts were focused on digging through the “soft spots of the shoreline” and “high mud build-up.”
Champ said the officials told volunteers to stay clear of the water as to avoid the flood and not get in the way of technical efforts being carried out by airboats and dive teams.
Shaun Evans, 56, and Jason Setter, 46, made their way to the search area at approximately 10 a.m. Tuesday, spending four hours walking through the wash.
Evans said they were told to walk through the area, and if something was located to notify the command center about what they found
“The items that were located or of interest, they flagged them and individuals were going around and digging and making sure those areas were clear,” he said.
“I feel like everybody’s got a lot of bases covered, it’s a matter of time and it’s a matter of perseverance,” Geerer said.
Moore went missing Saturday evening
Moore called 911 at about 9 p.m. July 24, asking for help because her vehicle became stranded in “a low water crossing” near Camino Real and Rocky Knolls Road, Johnson said during a news conference on Sunday.
Crews responded to the intersection and the vehicle was gone, Johnson said in the news conference. It’s a rural area with little light so crews searched by flashlight and found a vehicle pushed north toward a wash with a silhouette of a person in it. By the time crews got closer, the person inside was gone.
The water level was estimated to be just below Moore’s knees when she called for help, but quickly rose to more than 8 feet high within an hour, Johnson said in the news conference.
On Sunday, Johnson confirmed in a press conference that some of Moore’s personal belonging were found during the search, but as of Tuesday afternoon, Moore has still not been located.
“We know that the water was running very, very fast, and it did push her car downstream a little bit, so that’s where our search efforts have begun,” Johnson told the Republic on Tuesday. “That’s been our anchor point where we start all our searches, and we are searching all the way down to the Verde River.”
Many agencies working to find Moore
Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office officials said multiple agencies have joined the search and rescue effort while its search and rescue team scours high-risk areas where volunteers are barred from entering.
Even off-duty deputies were called in to help and “will assist in digging out debris and removing mud from the wash bed to further the search efforts,” the department wrote on Facebook.
Various resources are being used during the search for Moore including Peoria Fire, Prescott Fire and Border Patrol agents who did a “technical search” in the Verde River on Tuesday, Verde Valley Fire District Chief Danny Johnson told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday.
The search area stretches approximately eight to 10 miles from Camino Real, where the initial incident occurred, to the Verde River, down to Interstate 17, Johnson said. Efforts are underway in that area on foot as well as using drone, helicopter, K9, and ground technical rescue operations.
Search and rescue teams from other areas including Gila County and Tonto National Forest have also joined the search, Johnson added.
“We have resources that are lined out for the whole week,” Johnson said. “They are here and we are here to find Faith, and these resources are committed and we are making plans and continually planning of how we can give her the best outcome and make sure we can find her.”
Sheriff’s Office members will continue to search the wash from where the car was found to the river.
Community comes together for family
Officials have been in constant contact with Faith’s family via direct liaisons, Johnson said.
Cottonwood community members as well as others from “all over” have come out to aid in the search for Faith.
“People want to help and that’s a great thing, and we are not turning help away,” Johnson said.
On Monday evening, nearly 1,000 people gathered at the Mingus Union High School softball field, where Moore played softball, for a prayer vigil. Family, friends and community members came together to pray in hopes of finding Moore.
“It’s been amazing to see how this small community has rallied around this family, to not only help with the search but to lift them up and support them through this process,” Johnson said.
A GoFundMe page was created to help search and rescue efforts for Moore and has almost reached its $20,000 goal since it was created Sunday.
Geerer said he has even seen those who live along the Verde River in their backyards with binoculars trying to locate Moore.
Johnson said the Moore family wants the community to know that they appreciate all their efforts toward finding Faith.
Community members are not giving up hope in the search.
“I just hope that the family gets the closure that they need,” Champ said. “My thoughts are out for them and that is why we are out here; if it was anybody else’s kid I would be out here doing the same thing.”
Reach breaking news reporter Olivia Munson at [email protected] or on Twitter @munson_olivia.
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