Boy and cousin, both five swept to death when car was washed into flooded creek with third child still missing – The Sun

TWO five-year-old cousins died and a six-year-old is still missing after a family's "military style" truck was washed away trying to cross a creek during heavy flooding.

A Thanksgiving reunion took a tragic turn when the Rawlings family of nine tried to cross the swollen Tonto Creek in Arizona last weekend. They didn't anticipate the deadly water runoff.

Although two adults and four children made it out alive and were airlifted out, three children remained in the car which was washed away by the raging currents.

They were not found in the submerged vehicle, which was pulled out of the water about 1000 yards downstream from the closed crossing on Friday, reports The Journal Gazette.

Gila County Sheriff's Office found the bodies of little Colby and Austin Rawlings, both five, on Saturday, according to Fox 10.

Family, friends, local crews, and volunteers continued to search for their cousin, Willa Rawlings, 6, who is still missing.

Willa's parents, Daniel and Lacey Rawlings, both escaped from the truck but their son, Colby, and their niece, Austin, unfortunately did not.

Austin is the daughter of Daniel's brother, Jay Rawlings.

Speaking about the Austin's funeral service on December 6, her mom Lauren Rawlings asked attendees to "dress colorfully and bring your smiles."

"Our Austin was an expressive [child] who loved music and color," Rawlings said.

"Thank you all for your kind words, support, and prayers as we traverse through this tragedy."

A 50-person search and rescue team combed the five-mile vicinity by land, air, and sea by foot, kayak, helicopter, and with K-9s over the weekend.

A shoe and a piece of Willa's clothing was found on Sunday by the rescue team, who resume their search today.

“We want to bring her home safely to her family,” said Lt. Virgil Dodd of the Gila County Sheriff’s Office.

“She needs to come home today, and we're going to do that today.”

The horrific incident came after the Arizona family's happy Thanksgiving get-together took an extremely tragic turn.

Lacey's brother Nathan Sherwood flew in from Houston last Friday to help more than 100 volunteers look for Willa, reports USA Today.

Early on Sunday morning, people trudged through Tonto Basin –  50 miles northeast of Phoenix – to continue the frantic search.

"I cannot thank you enough," Sherwood said, reports  "This is about the only light in this dark situation."

There were flood warning signs in the area and the dangerous crossing was closed with barricades, officials say.

A flood warning had been issued for the area that included the Tonto Basin on Early Friday morning.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family of Colby and Willa which has raised $20,456 of its $6,500 goal as of Monday morning. 

A second page established for the family of Austin to help with the funeral costs has raised $29,476 raised of $50,000 goal.

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