Pants of missing girl found in Arizona creek

PHOENIX - Authorities found pants belonging to a 6-year-old girl missing since last week in a rural Arizona creek, but say they haven’t located the child yet.

Gila County Sheriff’s Lt. Virgil Dodd announced Tuesday afternoon that the pants were confirmed to belong to Willa Rawlings were located a few miles from where she was swept away by floodwaters.

The bodies of a 5-year-old son and a 5-year-old niece of Daniel and Lacey Rawlings were found Saturday, a day after a nine-member family group tried to cross a creek in a military-style truck.

The crossing had been closed with barricades and signs because of a storm that dropped an estimated 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain in the Tonto Basin area.

About 60 law enforcement search and rescue team members are searching for the girl along with more than 300 civilian volunteers.

Dodd says the search will resume at 8 a.m. Wednesday, December 4.