The death of a Cottonwood man Feb. 28 has left his son with little support for attending college.
Robert Kind, 59, from Cottonwood, drowned in the early morning while attempting to cross Beaver Creek at Reay Road in Rimrock. Kind, a single father, left one dependent, a 17-year-old son, who is being assisted by family members to raise funds to help him attend college.
“At approximately 6:30 a.m. this morning, YCSO received a call of a single vehicle attempting to cross Beaver Creek at Reay Road in Rimrock,” Dwight D’Evelyn, YCSO media relations coordinator stated Feb. 28. “The caller indicated the vehicle was beginning to float away and appeared to contain only the driver.”
A.J. Kind, Robert Kind’s ex-wife, stated via a Go Fund Me campaign she opened the day after the event, that Kind couldn’t see well due to complications from diabetes. According to her, it was the second time Kind had been caught in a wash during his 20 years in the area.
“He just couldn’t see how bad it was and was washed down stream and the car full of water in no time,” A.J. Kind stated. “I was on the phone with him until I wasn’t …. He was so scared and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do except assure him the rescue people were on their way, and they couldn’t get to him either.”
D’Evelyn reported that weather remained “very stormy in the area and visibility was very poor,” but that by 7:15 a.m. fire personnel had located the vehicle “almost completely submerged in the river some distance” from the crossing at Reary Road.
“The [Yavapai County Search and Rescue Team’s Swift Water personnel team] was deployed but could not get a complete view of the vehicle interior,” D’Evelyn continued. “As a result, a full search effort covering the area where the vehicle was submerged was ordered.
“Around 11:45 a.m., a Department of Public Safety Ranger crew flying over the creek bed spotted a body a little less than a mile from the submerged vehicle.”
According to D’Evelyn, recovering Kind’s body under the weather and swiftwater conditions amounted to highly difficult circumstances.
Kind family friend Richard Stephens said that the event has left Kind’s son with few resources to achieve his dream of going to college. According to Stephens, the boy lives with his grandmother, Gloria Warner. Prior to that, Kind was the third occupant of their household.
“These three were tight — it was three generations hoping the youngest would make it to college,” Stephens said. “He’s got a rare strength, but I’m worried [his father’s death] might trip him up …. My main focus is to help this bright, kindhearted young man.”
“Bobby is 17 and almost in his senior year of high school,” A.J. Kind explained. “The car they shared, a Ford Explorer, is ruined. Bob, even though he was a type 1 diabetic, had no life insurance, and really hadn’t thought ahead for Bobby’s college years and certainly not his own funeral.”
A.J. Kind’s Go Fund Me campaign is dedicated to help with funeral expenses and purchasing a car and providing college funds for Robert Kind’s son.
To access the campaign and donate, visit gofundme.com and search “The “Be Kind’ for Bob’s Son Campaign.”
