A 55-year-old Bullhead City woman is dead after she parked her car near the 600 block of Highway 95 on Friday morning, left the engine running, and walked directly into the Colorado River fully clothed. Police received the emergency call around 8:20 a.m., and rescuers recovered her body roughly three hours later, about three miles downstream.
The woman has been identified as Melissa Marie Miley. According to FOX 10 Phoenix, surveillance footage confirmed Miley parked near State Route 95 and Bullhead Parkway before stepping into the river, and Bullhead City police officers responded to the scene shortly after witnesses reported seeing her enter the water and fail to resurface.
A witness near the 1200 block of Riverfront Drive later reported seeing a body floating downstream, and rescuers pulled Miley from the water in that area around 11:20 a.m., roughly three hours after she was first seen entering the river upstream, according to The Bee. Riverfront Drive runs along the water south of Bullhead Parkway, the same stretch where Highway 95 serves as the area's main commercial corridor parallel to the river. Miley was pronounced dead after being retrieved from the river, per the same account.
A Three-Hour, Multi-Agency Search
The search effort brought together emergency responders, dive team members, and police in a coordinated push along the river. Crews used a police patrol boat and personal watercraft, and Code 3 News provided a media drone to assist searchers, while a witness ultimately spotted Miley's body floating downstream near Riverfront Drive.
The Bullhead City Police Department maintains a dedicated Dive Team of sworn officers certified in emergency response diving and swift-water rescue, a unit that regularly assists other regional agencies during water emergencies, according to Bullhead City. Under an interagency agreement with the U.S. Coast Guard, the department holds primary law enforcement jurisdiction over the Colorado River from Davis Dam south to the city's southern boundary, per city meeting records, with river patrols supported by neighboring agencies in both Nevada and Arizona.
Foul Play Not Suspected, Motive Unclear
Police say foul play is not currently suspected in Miley's death. Investigators have said the circumstances surrounding her entry into the water remain under investigation, and what led her to leave her car running and walk into the current has not been established.
The Mohave County Medical Examiner's Office in Fort Mohave, which is mandated by state law to conduct post-mortem examinations on all sudden, unattended, or unexpected deaths in Bullhead City, is expected to determine the official cause and manner of death. The office operates around the clock under board-certified forensic pathologists, according to Mohave County records.
A River With a Grim Recent History
Water temperatures in the Colorado River near Bullhead City frequently sit in the mid-50s to low 60s Fahrenheit because of upstream releases from Davis Dam, conditions that can trigger cold water shock, involuntary gasping, and rapid muscle incapacitation within minutes regardless of a person's swimming ability, per International Business Times.
The danger is not hypothetical for this stretch of river. In April, a 26-year-old visitor from San Marcos, California drowned at Davis Camp Park just north of the city after stepping into the current without a life jacket to retrieve a hat, a tragedy Hoodline previously reported. In July 2025, an Arizona man named Thomas Michael also drowned accidentally in the river within Bullhead City, adding to a recurring pattern of local river fatalities.
Drowning Deaths Climbing Nationally
The tragedy also fits into a broader national picture. CDC data published in 2024 shows more than 4,500 unintentional drowning deaths occur annually across the United States, a noticeable rise over pre-2020 levels, according to the CDC Foundation, which notes Arizona has been selected as one of ten pilot states for targeted drowning prevention programs.
Arizona Department of Health Services vital statistics indicate the state's hospitals log roughly 400 or more emergency room and inpatient admissions for water submersion injuries every year, with drowning remaining a leading cause of injury mortality statewide. Local authorities frequently step up river safety patrols during warm-weather months in response to that ongoing risk.
