Victim's car recovered after fatal accident at Yavapai County dam

YAVAPAI COUNTY, Arizona. – There are new developments in the investigation into the Death of 39-year-old woman who died when her SUV fell 300 meters from a mountain in Yavapai County.

A tow crew recovered her vehicle at the base of the cliff in Yavapai County on August 20 after a two-day operation.

Wild West – Off-road rescue is a specialized crew that regularly assists with towing and recovery of vehicles. When they got the call that the Sheriff's Office wanted to investigate Little's SUV, they gathered their crew on the railroad embankment next to Thumb Butte Road.

But they had no idea of ​​the emotions that this work brought with it.

“I've never done a job like this before,” said Carl Girard, one of the crew members who helped recover the SUV.

Two full days — that's how long it took, according to Girard, to pull Little's car, nicknamed Penelope, from where it landed after she veered off Thumb Butte Road on the evening of August 16.

“We brought our tow truck, which is basically an old-school tow truck with two wires, and then thousands of feet of cable and wires. The first day we made very slow progress. There were some trees and obstacles in the way that we had to get around,” Girard said.

At the end of the first day, Girard said, he called Little's mother, Jinger, and asked if the family wanted to be there when the car was delivered.

“Jinger was very open. She shared a lot of information and we talked on the phone for almost an hour, an hour and a half,” Girard said.

After this call, the support group contacted Little’s family.

“Emotionally, it was a hard blow for us, especially when I found out from Jinger that the vehicle was called Penelope and things like that. So, you know, the first day was different. We didn't have all that information. We knew there was an injured person, so we were cautious about it, but that connection is missing,” Girard said.

When Penelope was back on Thumb Butte Road, Girard said he gave the family time with Little's beloved car. The whole group was touched.

“There were hugs, there were tears, there was just everything and um, I'm still excited about it,” Girard said.

The investigation into Little's fatal accident is still ongoing.

The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office and Little's family are actively searching for drivers who were there at the time of the accident.

“We believe they witnessed the accident and we need to talk to them. We need to find out. Kris was on her way down and we believe she abandoned the inside of the mountain for someone who wasn't traveling on the right side,” said her mother, Jinger.

Girard said they found three other vehicles on the slope while recovering Little's Toyota 4Runner. He said one of those vehicles was actually an obstacle that they had to drive around to get Penelope out.

FOX 10 has reached out to the sheriff's office for an update on the case.