Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot shared footage of deputies and members of the Welton Police Department rescuing a woman who had struggled for 18 hours to get out a canal her dog had fallen into.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, on June 8, 2022, at approximately noon, Welton Police Department officers were dispatched to the area of Avenue 22E and Highway 80 after receiving a report of a woman inside the canal waving her hands in distress.
Officers and deputies arrived quickly and found the woman and her dog approximately half a mile south of the reported location. The woman was exhausted and tightly holding onto a Palo Verde branch and her dog.
Officers using improvised tools were able to safely pull woman and her dog out of the canal.
The rescuers discovered that the woman had stopped in the area to let her dog loose to wander in the desert. Not knowing that was there was a canal nearby, the dog fell inside and was struggling to get out. Without thinking, she jumped in after her pet. Due to the steep walls and strong current, she was unable to get out.
The woman remained inside the canal fighting the current for approximately 18 hours before an engineer in a passing train reported seeing what appeared to be a person in distress inside the canal.
Welton Police Sergeant Salcido, Officer Mesa and Executive Assistant David Williams received a commendation from Welton Police Chief David Rodriguez.