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Deceased Sentenced: 3 Children Missing In Arizona Flood Are Found Dead, Sheriff Says

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Two of three children who went missing after floodwater swept up their vehicle in central Arizona have been found dead, the Gila County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday.

The search continues for the third child, authorities said.

The children vanished Friday when a car crossing Tonto Creek was caught in flooding around 4 p.m. local time, Gila County Undersheriff Mike Johnson said.

Four children and one adult managed to get out of the vehicle and were stranded on an island in the creek, where they were rescued by a helicopter from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Johnson said.

A woman who was in the water also got out, but three children were unaccounted for, the undersheriff said.

The children and two adults were all in the car together when it was overtaken by floodwater, Johnson told CNN. It’s unclear how they know each other and how old they are.

An Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter joined the search Friday night, along with local authorities and the fire department, Johnson said.

A flood warning was in effect for Gila County until 8:45 p.m. local time on Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix.
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pix11.com

2 of 3 children missing in Arizona flood are found dead, sheriff says

ARIZONA — Two of three children who went missing after floodwater swept up their vehicle in central Arizona have been found dead, the Gila County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday. The search continue…
pix11.com pix11.com
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@Sejanus, the danger of a desert flash flood is that the rain often falls far away, and the water flows many miles down washes, picking up large quantities of debris as it moves downstream. Depending on distant rainfall, there may be more than one flash flood in the same location, hours apart
So there will be a flash flood warning, and barriers set up. But there is no water in sight, and the ground may even be dry. So people think they had time because they can't see any water. Then this high speed wall of water and debris hits them. Here is an example.
 
Sejanus said:
@Muriel Schwenck holy smokes!
So people get in front of these for chuckles?
That is lunacy!!
.
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Those two kids knew the risks they were taking. When the mess came around the corner, they ran. The problems come when people don't know any better.

"It isn't raining here, so we're okay to set up camp in this wash." But it is raining there, and this wash connects to the runoff channels there. And at oh too early in the morning, that mess rolls through camp.

Another cause is people not believing the water is as deep in the center of the channel as it is because they can't see through stuff that's opaque. It's the desert, right? It's dry, right? This is just people panicking over an inch or two of water flowing in the wash, right? And they try to drive through it, and discover that the water is six feet deep. And moving.

(Incidentally, "If you can't see the bottom then don't cross" is an outstanding way to deal with flood waters anywhere, not just the desert.)

Another factor is caliche, calcium carbonate deposited a few inches under the surface by the actions of weak carbonic acid -- or CO2 dissolved in rain water. As the carbonic acid soaks into the soil, it dissolves calcium and creates calcium carbonate in solution. The water evaporates from the surface of the soil and draws more water up from where it soaked in, and it carries its dissolved calcium carbonate with it. Eventually, the concentration gets high enough that the CaCO3 precipitates out, creating an impermeable underlayer that keeps the rain from soaking in . . . and all that water runs off instead. NB: This is not acid rain under discussion. Acid rain is a product of sulfur oxides dissolved in rain water.

--Al
desert rat
 
The parents of Colby and Willa Rawlings, who died last year after their vehicle was swept away in floodwaters in Tonto Basin, are now facing manslaughter and child abuse charges, Gila County undersheriff Michael Johnson told 12 News.

Daniel Rawlings is being charged with seven counts of child abuse and three counts of manslaughter, according to the Arizona Supreme Court site.

Lacey Rawlings is being charged with seven counts of child abuse.

Willa and Colby, along with their 5-year-old cousin Austin, died after their vehicle was swept away in the floodwaters in Tonto Basin after a rainstorm on Nov. 29.

The Tonto Creek was swollen with floodwaters after heavy rain on the day after Thanksgiving, causing a military-style truck with nine people in it to get stuck in the river.

Austin's and Colby's bodies were found the next day; Willa's was found on the no
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www.12news.com

Parents of children swept away in Tonto Basin facing manslaughter, child abuse charges

The parents of the children who died in Tonto Basin late last year after being swept away by floodwaters are facing manslaughter, child abuse charges.
www.12news.com www.12news.com
 
"An Arizona couple has been indicted after two of their children and their niece drowned when the family vehicle driven by the husband and containing seven kids allegedly went around a barricade and was swept away in a flooded creek last year.

Lacey Rawlings and her husband Daniel, who was behind the wheel of the military-style truck, each were indicted by a grand jury on three counts of reckless manslaughter and seven counts of child abuse, according to Gila County Superior Court, reports Phoenix TV station KTVK."

More: here.
 
An Arizona couple struck a plea deal on charges related to the deaths of three children who were killed when the pair tried to drive through floodwaters in 2019, a report said.

Daniel and Lacy Rawlings were slapped with charges after they ignored barricades and tried to plow a military-style truck over the Tonto Creek near the border with New Mexico.

The couple and other family members had to be rescued, but the truck was swept away and two of their children and a niece drowned.

Daniel, who was driving, will plead guilty to manslaughter and child abuse charges, while Lacey will please to child abuse charges, The Associated Press reported.

The couple would have faced mandatory time behind bars if found guilty and instead entered plea negotiations on the possibility they can be sentenced to probation, their attorney told the AP. The couple has “surviving children that they are responsible for attorney Bruce Griffen said.

The Rawlings tried to cross the surging Tonto Creek after heavy rains on Nov. 20, 2019, but never made it across. The couple and seven children were on board as the truck became stuck and submerged.

Daniel and four children were able to get onto a small island in the creek and Lacey was rescued from the shore but the three young children were swept away in the waters. Rescue workers recovered the bodies of daughter Willa, 6, son Colby, 5, and niece Austin, 5, in the days after the incident.

The tragedy sparked a $21 million federal grant that will build a bridge over the creek, where eight people have died in failed crossing attempts since 1995, according to the AP.
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nypost.com

Couple plead guilty after driving through flood leads to deaths of 3 kids

An Arizona couple struck a plea deal on charges related to the deaths of three children who were killed when the pair tried to drive through floodwaters in 2019.
nypost.com nypost.com
 
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After hours of testimony, an Arizona couple who drove around barricades and into flash flood waters in Tonto Creek, resulting in the deaths of three children, learned their fate. A judge sentenced Lacey Rawlings to 48 months probation while Daniel Rawlings received 60 months. They'll also have to do community service. Gila County Superior Court Judge Timothy Wright says the wishes of Rawlings' surviving children and others weighed heavily into his decision.

Outside the courthouse in Globe about an hour before the hearing started, more than 100 people, some driving from Pinetop-Lakeside, Show Low and Mesa wrapped yellow ribbons around railings, held signs, yellow balloons, wore “Rawlings Strong” sweatshirts and t-shirts in a show of support.
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By pleading guilty, the two avoided trial. Daniel faced three counts of manslaughter and seven counts of child abuse and Lacey, seven counts of child abuse, one for every child in the vehicle at the time. Gila County Superior Court administrator, Jonathan Bearup said Lacey would get probation.
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Inside the courtroom, the prosecution had Austin’s grandma, aunt, and mother read emotional statements. Austin is the 5-year-old niece of Daniel and Lacey Rawlings.

“Austin, Colby, and Willa are not the ones suffering,” said Lauren Johnston, Austin’s mother. “The hard part is seeing your surviving children struggle, struggling with every aspect of life for the foreseeable future, hearing their accounts of this traumatic event day after day and desperately searching for the right words to say – mom, why did this happen? Mommy, is this someone’s fault? Mommy, my body was so cold, I couldn’t even swim because the water was so freezing.”
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Daniel and Lacey didn’t show much emotion for the first part of the hearing. However, Lacey broke down into tears when Johnston looked at them and said, “I want Daniel and Lacey to know that I do forgive you for taking my daughter from me. I will never understand, but I forgive you for taking my daughter from me and our family.”

Austin's grandmother Lynn Morey also provided a statement to the court. “Because all children are our children, I’m asking this court to send an appropriate message to tell all adults… the message is that it’s not OK for children to make life-altering choices when it comes to their safety. The message that it will not be tolerated for any adult, not even once to ignore a pool without a fence, car ride without a child restraint, boats without proper lifejackets on board, or a rain-swollen creek with a closed no crossing sign in front of it. This message needs to resonate throughout this entire state, so similar tragedies are not repeated because children are God’s gift to us and we have to take care of them,” Morey said.
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During the hearing, prosecutors played an audio recording of Lacey’s interview with a Gila County Sheriff’s detective. It revealed why Daniel and Lacey Rawlings had crossed the flooded creek successfully twice at Punkin Center earlier in the day and why they decided to do it a third time.

Lacey said they initially took the kids because “it was raining and heated up the jacuzzi, so we were going to go get a canopy to put over the jacuzzi so we could sit in the jacuzzi.” She explained after that, they went to a second store “to get board games and the kids candy.”

“We’re going home, and this is when the kids start asking dad please, dad please, just do it one more time… instead of turning around and going back to Punkin Center, (detective finishes sentence) he went to Bar X? (Lacey) Yes.”

Judge Wright said on Thursday children need their parents to be their protectors, not their playmates. Still, he said he struggled with knowing that any sentence he imposed — particularly prison time — would adversely affect the Rawlings’ other two children and two nieces who survived the flooding.

“These four children have zero fault in this case, yet they carry the burdens,” Wright said. Prosecutor Bradley Soos had asked for some prison time. He pushed back on the idea that the Rawlings simply misperceived the danger in driving through a flooded wash, instead saying that a series of bad decisions by the couple led to the children’s deaths.
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www.azfamily.com

Parents of kids killed in Tonto Creek flood sentenced to probation

The judge acknowledged the wishes of the Rawlings’ children and other family members and friends who pleaded in emotional testimony for leniency.
www.azfamily.com www.azfamily.com
 
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