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Assisted by cadaver dogs, search crews ended what was to be one last "high concentration" effort Thursday to find the remains of a 6-year-old still missing 11 days after a flash flood killed 12 others in the polygamous southern Utah community of Hildale.
Meanwhile, nine new graves appeared in the cemetery in Colorado City, Ariz., this week. The graves appear to be those of the Jessops, one of the families swept away in the Sept. 14 flash floods.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office had identified only Josephine Jessop, 30, and Naomi Johnson, 26 or 27, and Della Johnson, 28. The three were sisters.
Josephine Jessop was the legal wife of Joseph N. Jessop. Naomi Johnson was the man's spiritual wife.
Della Johnson was the wife of Sheldon Black Jr. There was no indication Thursday where, or if, Della Johnson and the remaining victims had been buried.
A public memorial service for the flood victims will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Maxwell Park in Hildale.
Searchers are still trying to find 6-year-old Tyson Lucas Black.
The victims had gone in two vehicles to watch the flooding near Canyon Street and Williams Avenue when "a large wall of water and debris" surprised them and swept them away in the flood, according to Hildale Mayor Phillip Barlow.
Pete Kuhlmann, Washington County Emergency Services director, emphasized that while on-the-ground efforts would be "scaled back" after Thursday's big push to find the boy's body amid the mud and debris of Short Creek was not being suspended, yet.
On Thursday, the ground search also got help from heavy equipment, including backhoes and excavators, as well as chainsaw teams working to cut away accumulated trees and limbs torn loose by the floodwaters.
Kuhlmann said the accumulated sediment in some places was more than 8 feet deep. As of Thursday afternoon, crews had gathered and sifted through more than 75,000 cubic yards of debris; by day's end, that total was expected to top 115,000 cubic yards.
On Friday, volunteer searches are being limited to allow more effective use of K-9 and other resources.
Since the flash flood washed away and crushed a van and SUV packed with women and children on Sept. 14, hundreds of searchers have probed the banks. Twelve bodies were recovered within the first days of the effort, some as far as 5 miles downstream in Arizona.
"We are saddened that the final victim ... has not yet been found," Kuhlmann stated. "Local emergency responders are committed to using available specialized resources to continue to look for him and will continue to work to bring him home."
He added: "Our heartfelt thanks go out to all those who have assisted, both professional and volunteer. . . . We are fortunate to live in a community where differences are set aside when tragedy touches one among us, where lives are put on hold to offer assistance, and where we can come together to focus on the important task of helping someone in need."
The same storm system that flooded Hildale also drowned seven California and Nevada hikers caught in nearby Zion National Park's Keyhole Canyon. All their bodies were recovered within a couple days.
Twitter: @remims —
Names of the dead
New graves in the cemetery in Colorado City, Ariz., appear to identify the Jessop children killed in the Sept. 14 flash flood in Hildale. Placards on the graves list the year of birth for each, and 2015 as the year of their deaths.
Valiant Jessop • born 2009
Velvet Jessop • 2009
Sweet Caress Jessop • 2010
Ruth Jessop • 2010
Naomi Jessop • 2008
Melissa Jessop • 2006
Rebekah Jessop • 2006
Source: KUTV reporting