CORDES LAKES, AZ — A man who was swept away in floodwaters Tuesday in Cordes Lakes has been found dead.
The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office says they found the body of 74-year-old David Otero after two days of searching the Big Bug Creek area.
Deputies were first called to the area around 3 p.m. after residents called 911 to report a vehicle being swept away.
When deputies got to the area, they located a small sedan being carried away with two men on or near the trunk.
The vehicle then began to turn over in the strong current.
A deputy was able to step into the water and pull one man to safety. The rescued man reported that he tried to help the driver after seeing his vehicle drive into the flowing waters and get swept away.
Swift Water Rescue crews were able to locate the car lodged against a tree, about two miles from the point of entry, but found nobody inside or near it.
Otero was last seen being carried further down the creek.
A family member says Otero left his home around 3 p.m. and never reached his destination.
Yavapai Search and Rescue (SAR) units, along with Fire and rescue teams, searched both banks of Big Bug Creek from the vehicle's entry point to where it came to rest.
On Thursday, crews located Otero's body along Big Bug Creek near its intersection with the Agua Fria River, about six miles from where he and his vehicle were last seen.
Closer to the Valley, crews responded to multiple water rescues during storms on Tuesday. Those incidents occurred in the Tonopah and Wickenburg areas.
