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Motorist Caught In Floodwaters Near Casa Grande Still Missing

Crews have temporarily suspended a search for a woman whose car got stuck in floodwaters east of Casa Grande on Saturday. That’s when Joan Buttner called a friend, saying water was up to her car door as the 64-year-old drove on a gravel road near a subdivision.

The car was later found about 200 yards away with a few broken windows.

Carol Capas is with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, which has been conducting the search. Capas said crews had been looking every day for Buttner. But now, significant rain is in the forecast.

"It’s too dangerous for our personnel to be in the area to be conducting a search in that type of a situation," she said, "because flash floods do happen quickly, and we believe that that in fact is what here with Miss Buttner."

Capas said crews may start again on Wednesday or Thursday. But at that point, the search would be considered a recovery effort instead of a rescue.

Stina Sieg was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2013 to 2018.