On Saturday August 23, 2014 at approximately 7:00 pm, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office was advised of four subjects who were lost somewhere along the San Pedro River between Charleston Road near Sierra Vista and Highway 82 near Whetstone.
The caller stated that he and three friends, all of Sierra Vista, had built a homemade raft to float up the San Pedro River. The caller advised that they believed that the distance between the two locations was only a few miles, when in fact it was closer to ten miles.
The caller said that they had traveled an unknown distance when the water became too low to allow for the raft to continue. The caller said that the four then began attempting to get out of the area when it became too dark to see where they were going and they needed help.
The man said that they had left one vehicle at the Charleston bridge where they launched from, and a second vehicle at the Highway 82 river location to bring them back. The caller advised that they had left their cell phones in the vehicles and he had one phone which was deactivated but he was able to call 9-1-1 and give their coordinates.
The Search and Rescue team was deployed and they requested assistance from the Department of Public Safety Ranger for air support. Two SAR coordinators responded along with 15 volunteers to help locate the subjects and DPS Ranger was able to spot all four and transport them, two at a time, back to the Highway 82 location.
Once all four were brought to safety, the Whetstone Fire Department medical personnel responded to complete an assessment due to one of the subjects not having needed medication throughout the day, and a second subject having mild hypothermia. All subjects refused transport and left the area.