A Camp Verde man reported missing earlier this month has been found dead, according to the Camp Verde Marshal’s Office.
Dan Maxson, 55, was reported missing after disappearing from his home May 10, the last place he was seen by his family.
Family members reported Maxson missing May 16.
The Camp Verde Fire District put out a request for help in the search May 20.
Later that same evening, however, a body was found by an employee of a local irrigation ditch company, said Kristi Gagnon, fire marshal for the district.
The employee of the Verde Ditch Company found the body around 5:30 p.m. in a culvert off of Vail Lane and called the marshal’s office.
The body was later identified as Maxson’s.
As of now, investigators don’t believe that foul play was a factor in the death.
“It appears he may have accidentally fallen into the water,” Gagnon said. “They’re waiting on the results of an autopsy.”
Maxson’s vehicle was still at his residence, and initial reports indicated that someone may have picked him up.
Early investigation looked into a report that Maxson had been seen at a gas station in Rimrock, but that was never confirmed.
Maxson suffered from medical issues related to a stroke, according to the fire district, and had difficulty walking as well as slurred speech and an amputated right hand.
“Dan is a long-time member of the Camp Verde Community,” Gagnon said in the initial appeal to the public to help look for the missing man.
Maxson was a volunteer with the Camp Verde Fire District for several years and more recently worked in the propane business.
The Yavapai County Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting Maxson’s autopsy to determine his cause of death.
