Gila
A man in his early 60s died after drowning at Fossil Creek on Thursday morning, officials said.
He was later identified as 62-year-old Ronald Hugh Henry of Phoenix.
The Gila County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a passerby just before noon Thursday, followed by a second phone call from the man’s friend who was with him at the time, the agency said.
It took first responders from the Pine-Strawberry Fire District about an hour to reach the remote “toilet bowl” area of Fossil Creek, where the man was, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Mike Johnson said.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety dropped dive team members from the Sheriff’s Office into the water to recover the man’s body.
Johnson said the “toilet bowl” area is “very dangerous” and that only advanced swimmers should attempt to go there.
An investigation is ongoing.