Sheriff's deputies said they found Willa Rawlings several miles
(km) from where the family's military-style truck was recovered
roughly two weeks ago, a statement from the Gila County
Sheriff's Office said. The family was notified.
Law enforcement officials and volunteers had been combing the
area by foot since Nov. 29, when the truck entered the creek
near a crossing that had been deemed unpassable and was blocked
off by authorities. Some two inches (5 cm) of rain had fallen in
the area during a powerful winter storm.
Sheriff's deputies said the parents and four children were able
to make it out safely.
Searchers found the bodies of the girl's 5-year-old brother
Colby, and a 5-year-old cousin, Austin, about three miles (4.8
km) downstream the next day, said Lieutenant Virgil Dodd, a
sheriff's spokesman.
In an interview with a local television station, parents Daniel
and Lacey Rawlings described Willa Rawlings as a confident,
self-assured young girl whose favorite color was magenta and who
wanted to be a Disney princess.
Sheriff's officials have declined to comment on whether the
parents would be charged under Arizona law that makes motorists
liable for the costs of the emergency response created by those
who drive into a flooded area that has been barricaded.
(Reporting by David Schwartz;
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