A 13-year-old girl who disappeared while riding an all-terrain vehicle was found dead in a Northwestern Arizona mine shaft early Sunday, and her 10-year-old companion was rescued with serious injuries, authorities said.
A rope team descended into the vertical shaft, where the teen was found dead, sheriff's spokeswoman Sandy Edwards said. The girl's body had been recovered by Sunday afternoon and her family was notified of her death.
They vanished at about 7 p.m. Saturday. Early Sunday, officials discovered that they were in the shaft in Chloride, about 17 miles north of Kingman.
The 10-year-old girl had "major injuries" and was transported to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, Edwards said. She was in critical condition Sunday afternoon, a hospital spokesman said. The girl's family said through the hospital that they didn't want to talk to the media.
People are also reading…
Seth Johnson, a neighbor of the girls and their family's landlord, said the two were half-sisters and identified them as 13-year-old Rikki Howard and 10-year-old Casie Hicks. Officials had not released their identities Sunday afternoon.
Johnson said the girls' family was at the Las Vegas hospital. "It's an awful shock," Johnson said. "Their parents are very distraught."
Cathy Kelso, a bus driver, said she has been driving the two girls to school for a year and a half. "They're little sweetheart girls," she said. "I just keep hoping it's not true, but it's horrible."
Laurie Swartzbaugh, deputy director of the Arizona State Mine Inspector's Office, said she did not know whether the mine was abandoned or active, but that the office was investigating. She said abandoned mines are common in the state, and that since Jan. 1, the office has secured 108 of them.
"There's a significant amount of abandoned mines out there that are hazardous to the public's health," she said. "Most of those mines are from old prospectors who would go in and they would mine and they'd just pick up leave. And there are some very dangerous ones that are very deep."
