PHOENIX — Two years ago this week, three children were swept away and died in the raging waters of Tonto Creek.
The tragedy, coming on the day after Thanksgiving, was agonizing for the Tonto Basin community.
It took two weeks to recover the body of one of those children.
On this anniversary week, work on a long-sought bridge that might have prevented the tragedy still hasn't begun.
The bridge project's scheduled start, in March 2022, will coincide with the planned trial date for a father and mother who've been charged in the three children's deaths.
"The fact this bridge is finally going to happen is a profound godsend for all of us down here," said Randy Roberson, a videographer who was one of the hundreds of volunteers searching the waters for the children.
But he added: "The real tragedy is ... what happened with these kids. That just can't be fixed. That's a horrible thing."
On Nov. 29, 2019, Daniel Rawlings' military-style, flat-bed truck tried to cross a usually shallow Tonto Creek. But the raging storm waters wouldn't allow it.
Nine people were in the truck - Rawlings and wife Lacey, and seven children.
Three of the children died when they were swept away: 6-year-old Willa Rawlings and her 5-year-old brother Colby Rawlings, the children of Daniel and Lacey Rawlings; and 5-year-old Austin Rawlings, the adult Rawlings' nephew.
"It really rocked everyone's world down here," Roberson said.
Roberson said residents of the area's rural communities, about 90 miles northeast of Phoenix reacted to the childrens' deaths in different ways:
"Feeling one way or the other that they should never have been there, it was crazy, or that, 'Oh my gosh, kids were involved, this is terrible.'"
A $21 million federal grant that was approved a year ago will pay for a bridge over Tonto Creek that many residents have demanded for decades.
Work on the bridge is scheduled to start on March 1, 2022, according to Roberson.
The trial date for Daniel and Lacey Rawlings, is March 30, according to the Gila County Superior Court's office.
Both dates are subject to change.
Daniel Rawlings, who was driving the truck, is charged with three counts of reckless manslaughter. Lacey Rawlings is charged with seven counts of child abuse.
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