When 16-year-old Faith Moore tragically went missing following a flash flood July 24, the community came together to aid in her search. When her body was found four days later, they rallied around her family to offer their support. But their efforts to remember Moore are not yet over.
Moore went missing July 24 after being swept away in a flash flood near the intersection of Camino Real and Arrowhead Lane while on her way home from her job at Dairy Queen. For the next four days, search and rescue teams, first responders and community volunteers from across Arizona worked around the clock until Moore’s body was found the afternoon of July 28.
Verde Valley Fire Chief Daniel Johnson said the search response for Moore was the largest he’d ever seen in his career.
“It was a tragic event, but it was also one of the most overwhelming events that I’ve been a part of just by the sheer number of people that were actually involved in that duration of time,” he said. “It made me very proud to be able to be a part of this community.”
Over 580 trained search and rescue personnel helped in the search for Moore, not including the administrative and command staff that helped run the operation from behind the scenes, which puts the number of professionals helping with the search at well over 600.
In addition to local fire and police departments from around the Verde Valley, including Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Clarkdale, Sedona, Copper Canyon, the Yavapai-Apache Nation and Yavapai County, first responders from Prescott, Chino Valley, Maricopa County, Peoria and Gila County also came to assist.
The search also received support from the National Weather Service, the Arizona National Guard, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Arizona Rangers, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, the Arizona State Land Department, Cottonwood Community Development, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Cottonwood Airport, and the public works departments of Cottonwood, Camp Verde and Yavapai County, which provided heavy equipment to aid in the search.
Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes expressed his gratitude to the many men and women who helped search, many of whom volunteered their time while off duty, in a statement posted to Facebook.
“During the search efforts, there were innumerable local, state and federal public safety agencies that responded without being called to do so,” he wrote. “The coordination of efforts was seamless and effective, and I am proud of not only my office but of all the men and women who participated.”
In addition to the trained personnel who responded to the search, over 1,000 volunteers from the community turned out to help look for Moore, Johnson said, including some that came as far as from Prescott and Payson.
Volunteers worked in dangerous conditions, searching through the heat, humidity, rain and mud for hours at a time across the approximately 10 miles of river and wash they searched.
Johnson said the number of volunteers looking was extremely helpful since crews had to search over the same areas each day as water levels gradually decreased and muddy banks dried, allowing them more areas to search.
“When you’re doing a search like that, the number of people absolutely helps. The more people that you have, the more area you can cover and the more eyes and more hands you can get on the ground,” he said.
But not everyone who made an impact on the search got their boots muddy. In addition to the hundreds of volunteers showing up to search each day, many community members and businesses showed up to the incident command post with donations of food, beverages, chairs, canopies, coolers, tables, shovels, towels and much more.
“I want to highlight and say thank you not only to the people who were on site day in and day out, but to the unsung heroes from the business community who helped with food, water, shovels, fans, towels, coffee and much more,” Rhodes said. “This is in addition to the thousands of personal donations made by individuals. These items were indispensable in keeping the searchers fed, hydrated and equipped, but also in keeping their spirits up with the outpouring of support.”
Johnson said so many donations were made that it became overwhelming at times, but that each and every item given made an impact on the search.
“It was really cool because it wasn’t just big corporations, it wasn’t just our major businesses in our town, it was even families, you know, it was kids and their moms baking cookies, which meant as much to us as the big businesses that were donating. They all had an impact,” he said.
The impact of the outpouring of community support was not lost on the Moore family. Faith’s mother, Katie Moore, expressed how grateful their family is for the support they’ve received in the midst of such a heartbreaking experience.
“To experience the fear of looking for our daughter and the unknowing is unimaginable. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming,” Katie Moore told the Cottonwood Journal Extra. “From the moment Faith was missing, our amazing community ran to her rescue with severing hearts to help us find her. Over a thousand volunteers from our community and from all over our state came to help us. … No one lost faith in finding Faith. The search and rescue team and the volunteers searched 24/7 until she was found. Blood, sweat and tears were poured into this search for our girl. To each and every person who contributed to finding Faith, thank you wholeheartedly for all you did.Our family is forever in gratitude and awe for all you have done.”
Community Movements
A celebration of life for Moore took place Aug. 8 at Verde Community Church. In lieu of a traditional eulogy, a statement written by family friend Lisa Flower was read:
“I had Faith, you had Faith, we all had Faith, and now I see more, amidst it all, it was really Faith who had us. Faith had us from the first plea for help. Faith grabbed our attention and it put us into action. Family, friends, people near and far, people who had no idea who she was but were drawn to come together. Faith did that! It is often said, Faith can move mountains. Well, this Faith has moved more than mountains, she moved a whole community.”
Her sentiments are shared by many in the community who have started movements and memorialization to honor and remember Faith and the impact she had on all who knew her.
Moore played softball on the Mingus Union High School team as well as on the Rampage travel ball team. The coaches of both teams spoke at her memorial service, remembering Moore’s dedication, leadership and sweet nature. They also spoke of their teams’ commitment to remembering Moore going forward.
“From now on, we are going to play in honor of Faith, and we hope that we can make her proud,” Rampage coach Paige Church said.
A number of petitions on change.org for how to memorialize Moore at Mingus High School, where Moore had just completed her sophomore year, have been started by her friends and classmates, including retiring her No. 8 jersey and renaming the varsity softball field to “Field of Faith.”
“Faith started high school wearing No. 8, but she won’t get the opportunity to graduate high school with that same number, and neither should anyone else. Retiring her number will remind us of the impact she left on and off the field,” the petition reads.
Mingus softball coach John Brown has said the team is already working to retire her number and make patches for the team’s jerseys among many other things.
A number of other community groups have been created to support the family, including a GoFundMe account that has so far raised over $36,000 of its $50,000 goal.
Several community members have started other fundraising projects, including selling #findingfaith bracelets and “Faith” shirts. One community member, Libby Kintonis, collected over $300 to give Walmart gift cards to Moore’s siblings. A Meal Train was also set up throughout the search and after to provide meals to the Moore family.
While some members of the Faith Moore Memorial Facebook page have expressed concern that all of the ideas, petitions and memorialization may be overwhelming to the grieving family, Samantha-Jon Carrillo wrote a post on behalf of the Moore family thanking the community for its work in keeping the memory of their daughter alive.
“We want each and every person to know the ideas, movements, creations and attempts to honor her has been beyond touching! While this traumatic event has been beyond heart-wrenching, watching friends, family and strangers honor her brings a little smile to their faces or peace at knowing how dearly she was loved across our community and even further,” she wrote. “Please continue with your heart desires and fill our world with Faith. On behalf of Chris and Katie, they hope you continue your movements and motions.”
