Two more bodies were pulled Saturday from the rushing waters of a monsoon-fed wash near Rio Rico, the day after a man's body was recovered from the wash, authorities said.
One of the bodies recovered Saturday is believed to be the one seen floating with that of the man found the day before, said Sgt. Mario Barba of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office.
The search had begun after a report of two people who were possibly swept away in the Nogales Wash on Thursday, the sheriff's office previously said. The wash flows north.
Sheriff's deputies spotted two bodies floating in the wash near Exit 17 of Interstate 19, south of Tucson and north of Nogales, on Thursday. Due to dangerous water conditions, the deputies were unable to retrieve them at the time, and search efforts continued.
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On Friday, authorities pulled a man's body from the wash, near Exit 22. His age and identity aren't known, and no clothes or personal items were found with him.
As the search continued Saturday afternoon, a second body was found and pulled from the water, also near Exit 22, in the Peck Canyon area, wearing a blue bra that had been seen when the two bodies were spotted Thursday, Barba said.
The assumption is the person was a woman, but due to the condition of the body, gender could not be determined, he said. The Pima County Medical Examiner's Office will try to help with identification.Â
Then a drone helping with the search discovered a third body, also retrieved by authorities, Barba said. Again, no gender identification could be made.Â
The sheriff's office is checking for missing persons reports and working with the Mexican Consulate as it tries to identify the three people. Barba said the assumption is the three were swept away in Mexico and carried north into Arizona. Â
As of late Saturday, there were no reports of missing people that could be connected to the case, Barba said.Â
The Saturday discoveries in Santa Cruz County came the same day a 29-year-old man was found dead in the Santa Cruz River in Tucson, near the Interstate 10 and Interstate 19 interchange.
That man, Ernesto Ojeda, had been reported missing Friday evening, after reports that afternoon of a man being swept down the Julian Wash.Â
