6-year-old boy swept away in floodwaters in northern Arizona is presumed dead

Ariz. 6-year-old swept away in flood presumed dead

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A 6-year-old boy who was swept away in floodwaters near the northern Arizona community of Mayer is presumed dead, as searchers tried to locate his body on Friday.

David and Katrina Baudek loaded their two children, Jacob and Desiree, into a pickup truck late Thursday during a powerful winter storm, trying to get their sick son to a hospital, said Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dwight D’Evelyn.

They left their home about 70 miles north of Phoenix and headed out on a dirt road that normally is passable.

Tributaries of the nearby Agua Fria River had already flooded local roads, and when the Baudeks tried to cross one of them, their truck got stuck in the water and was swept off the road. Katrina Baudek escaped to higher ground as her husband moved the two children into the truck’s bed for safety.

A witness nearby heard the commotion and threw the father a rope while someone called for help, D’Evelyn said. As rescue crews arrived, the floodwaters rose and swept David Baudek and his children from the truck bed.

The father managed to get to safety with his daughter, but the boy remained missing. D’Evelyn said the body could have been carried miles away and he is presumed dead.

Two swift-water rescuers from the Central Yavapai Fire District had jumped in the water to search for the boy, said Assistant Chief Charlie Cook. Tied together, the rescuers swept back and forth across the rushing water but came up empty, he said.

Rescuers battled severe wind gusts and sheets of horizontal rain, as the survivors looked on.

“It was pretty extreme conditions,” Cook said.

An Arizona Department of Public Safety crew flew over the area where the boy was last seen and found debris piles that were to be checked for any signs of the boy, D’Evelyn said. The mother’s jacket was found farther down river..

D’Evelyn said the conditions wouldn’t have allowed the boy to survive.

“A 6-year-old, depending on his medical condition, would probably be unconscious fairly quickly and not have the knowledge of what to do or how to react and probably couldn’t swim,” he said. “Even an adult would have a hard time in this situation.”

Associated Press Writer Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.