The Yavapai County community is grappling with the aftermath of a tragic event, following the death of a 39-year-old woman named Kristin Little, whose SUV fell off a cliff along Thumb Butte Road. Five days later, on August 20th, a tow crew successfully recovered her vehicle from the base of the cliff after an intense two-day operation, as reported by Justos and FOX 10 Phoenix.
Wild West Off-Road Recovery, a specialized group that often lends its expertise to such towing and vehicle recovery efforts, was enlisted by the Sheriff’s Office to carefully retrieve Little's SUV from its resting place. "We brought our wrecker, which is basically a twin-line old school wrecker, and then we brought just thousands of feet of cable and line. We made very slow progress on the first day. We had some trees in the way and some obstacles that we had to work around," Carl Girard, a crew member involved in the recovery, told FOX 10. The crew did not initially realize to fully appreciate the emotional weight of the task at hand.
The operation became more than just a recovery mission when the crew learned of the personal connection the family had with the vehicle, nicknamed Penelope. "Emotionally, it hit hard for us, especially when I found out from Jinger that the vehicle's name was Penelope and things like that. So, you know, day one was different. We didn't have all that information. We knew that there was a casualty involved, so we were treating it with care, but you don't have that connection," Girard explained in a statement obtained by FOX 10 Phoenix.
When Penelope was safely back on Thumb Butte Road, Girard stated he gave the family time with Little's beloved car. The whole group was reportedly emotional, with Girard recounting, "There was hugs, there was tears, there was just everything and um, I still get worked up over it." During the effort, the crew also discovered three other vehicles down the embankment, one of which presented an obstacle they had to navigate around to extract Penelope.
The ongoing investigation into the fatal crash continues as the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, together with Little's family, seeks to identify drivers who might have witnessed the incident. Jinger, Little's mother, believes that her daughter swerved to avoid another vehicle traveling on the wrong side. "We think that they witnessed this accident, and we need to speak with them. We need to find out. Kris was headed down and she, we believe, gave up the inside of the mountain for somebody who was not traveling on the right side," Jinger said. As of now, details on the progress of the case have not been released.
