Salty Scuba Squad: Group cleans up Arizona's lakes, rivers while finding lost items

PHOENIX - Have you ever spent a day at the lake or the river and at the end of the day realize you lost something in the watery depths?

There's a local nonprofit that says it can help find sunken treasure.

Take the Salt River, for example.

It has a lot to offer for people seeking relief from the blistering heat. But, while the river gives, it can also take away.

Hundreds of items each year get lost during tubing and kayaking trips.

That's where the Salty Scuba Squad comes in.

"It's been a really heartwarming adventure," Connie Wickstrom said. She volunteers with the squad.

The group dives several times a week, helping to clean up the waterway and retrieve lost items.

"Keys, wallets, watches, Apple Watches, things like that. GoPros, and then, of course, the garbage," she said.

Since April, Salty Scuba Squad volunteers have collected over 9,200 pounds of trash and 101 phones.

One of those phones belongs to Michelle Ballard who lost it during a trip weeks ago.

"We were fine, it was nice and relaxing and then we figured this is a good spot to get out and stretch and that was my mistake because I got too comfortable," she said. "We got caught up in a crowd of people, lost the cooler and everything and I just felt like my whole world just died."

She came to pick up her phone today from the squad who got ahold of her using her emergency contacts.

"I am so grateful for you guys because as soon as I knew that you had my phone, my worries just went away," Ballard said.

The squad currently has 21 phones whose owners they are trying to identify.

As for the group's conservation goals, those are simple.

"Arizona's water is cleaner, for sure. We hope to be able to show people that are coming down the river, and they see all this trash on the board and be like, ‘Oh yeah, I better help with that’ and for them to carry that mission on and pick up after themselves," Wickstrom explained.

You can learn more about the nonprofit by clicking here.

Below are images of phones that haven't been claimed by owners yet:

You can contact the Salty Scuba Squad by clicking here.