A search is underway along the San Pedro River for a woman believed to have been swept away by rapid floodwaters overnight, after four other migrants crossing with her told U.S. Border Patrol agents she vanished into the current near Naco. Cochise County Sheriff's Office deputies say search crews have since found articles of clothing matching what the missing woman was wearing, but as of the latest update, she has not been found.
According to the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, Border Patrol notified the agency at 2:19 a.m. Thursday after apprehending five undocumented migrants near Naco who reported that a 45-to-50-year-old Hispanic woman had been swept away while attempting to cross the San Pedro River around 12:30 a.m. The group reportedly could not call for help until Border Patrol agents detained them. Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels has warned that local washes create severe flood risks, telling reporters that they can quickly turn rainfall into dangerous flooding, as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix.
Drones and a Helicopter Join the River Search
The sheriff's office activated its volunteer Search and Rescue Team at 2:54 a.m., deploying thermal drones by 4 a.m. alongside an Arizona Department of Public Safety Ranger helicopter to scour the San Pedro River channel. The effort marks the second time in a week that search crews have worked that same stretch of river — on August 3, the same Search and Rescue team was activated south of the San Pedro House to locate a missing man in his 70s, underscoring how often the corridor turns hazardous during monsoon season.
Cochise County leaders searched for the missing woman in the area between Bisbee and Sierra Vista, where two monsoon storms pummeled the region within a 72-hour window. Deputies reported widespread impacts across southern Arizona, including a brief tornado warning east of Sierra Vista, as the same storm system that triggered the river search also tore through the county's roads and power grid.
Flooded Roads and Knocked-Out Power Across the County
The storms flooded the underpass at the Bisbee traffic circle along Highway 80 and forced emergency closures on Hereford Road at the San Pedro River, Central Highway, and Frontier Road, per the sheriff's office. Arizona Public Service reported that 1,495 customers lost electrical power across the county on Wednesday as severe winds and rain swept from High Lonesome Road to Toveraville Road and Highway 92 to Double Adobe.
Downtown Bisbee, sitting at 5,300 feet in the steep Mule Mountains, took a direct hit as flash flooding turned its streets into little rivers. Stormwater runoff from Tombstone Canyon and Brewery Gulch funnels straight into Mule Gulch through the historic town center, according to a 2022 hazard mitigation plan filed with the City of Bisbee. Following catastrophic fire and flood events in 1906, the city built underground box channels, flumes, and culverts along Mule Gulch to route mountain runoff beneath downtown toward the Lavender Pit copper mine, per FEMA — infrastructure that heavy monsoon bursts can still overwhelm.
Bisbee Business Owner Describes the Damage
Bisbee business owner Gretchen Bonaduce, who owns several businesses in town, said water rushed down because her business sat at the opening of the gulch. She said her Le Cornucopia Cafe sustained significant damage, and that hail collected on overhangs throughout downtown Bisbee.
Bonaduce said debris and leaves left the area in a mess, but described a community response typical of the small mining town: Bisbee residents, she said, are among the first to help during community problems, with neighbors joining together to clean up and check on each other in the storms' aftermath.
State Law and the Risks of Flooded Roads
Arizona's so-called Stupid Motorist Law, Arizona Revised Statute § 28-910, allows the state to bill drivers up to $2,000 for rescue costs if they bypass posted barricades into flooded roads and then need emergency help. The National Weather Service notes that Arizona averages two to three flash flood fatalities each year, with most occurring when motorists or pedestrians enter flooded desert washes that dry soils cannot absorb.
It remains unclear whether high water levels have hindered the ongoing drone and helicopter search, or whether U.S. Border Patrol's specialized BORSTAR swiftwater rescue unit has formally joined the Cochise County Sheriff's Office in the effort. The flooding follows a pattern Hoodline previously reported in Benson, where monsoon rains earlier this summer also put stretches of Interstate 10 in sudden flood danger.
