The victim's car was found after it had rolled down an embankment.
Yavapai County, Arizona – There has been a new development in the investigation. 39-year-old woman dies after SUV plunges 1,000 feet off mountain In Yavapai County.
Towing crews found her car at the bottom of a cliff in Yavapai County on Aug. 20 after a two-day operation.
Wild West Off-Road Recovery is a specialized group that regularly assists with towing and recovering vehicles, and when they received a call that the sheriff's office wanted to check on Little's SUV, they assembled a team from the bank of Sam Butt Road.
But they had no idea about the emotions this work would evoke.
“I've never done anything like this,” said Carl Girard, one of the workers who helped recover the SUV.
Two full days. Girard said it took two full days to salvage Little's car, known as the Penelope, after it went off Sam Butt Road on the evening of August 16.
“We basically brought in an old two-wire tow truck and then brought in several thousand feet of cable and wire. It was very slow the first day. There were some trees in the way and other obstacles that we had to get around,” Girard said.
Girard said he called Little's mother, Ginger, at the end of the first day and asked if her family would be willing to be present when the car was removed.
“Ginger was very open. She shared a lot of information. We were on the phone for almost an hour, hour and a half,” Girard said.
After that call, the recovery group began connecting with Little's family.
Memorial paid to Prescott woman who fell off cliff
On August 16, a 39-year-old woman was thrown from a car in Yavapai County after it went off a cliff. FOX10's Nicole Krasean spoke with Kristin Little's family, who are mourning her loss but also remembering her love of adventure.
“Emotionally, it was a big shock to us, especially finding out from Ginger that the car was named Penelope. So day one was different. We didn't have any of that information. We knew there were casualties and we were being cautious, but we just didn't have that connection,” Girard said.
When Penelope returned to Sam Butt Road, Ms Girard said they spent some time with Little's car and the family was overwhelmed with emotion.
“There were hugs, there were tears, there was just everything. Well, I still get excited about it,” Girard said.
The investigation into Little's death remains ongoing.
The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office and Little's family are actively searching for drivers who were on the scene at the time of the crash.
“We believe they witnessed the accident so we need to speak to them and get to the bottom of it. Chris was on her way down the mountain and we believe she gave way to the inside of the mountain for someone who wasn't traveling on the right side of the mountain,” her mother Ginger said.
Girard said while working to recover Little's Toyota 4Runner, they found three other vehicles at the bottom of the embankment, one of which was an obstacle they had to avoid to rescue Penelope.
FOX 10 has reached out to the sheriff's office for an update on the incident.
