A mother and her young daughter were killed after being swept away by flood waters in Oklahoma.
“Just after 5 p.m. today, a boat crew from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol located the body of the 7-year-old girl who was swept away in flood waters along with her mother yesterday near Leonard,” the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) said in a statement to Fox 23 on Monday, April 21.
“She has been identified as Rosa Faraji from Broken Arrow. This concludes the search along the Arkansas River. “TCSO would like to thank all of the agencies that assisted in the search,” the sheriff’s office stated.
According to the news station, Rosa was driving with her 10-year-old sister, mother, and father on Sunday, April 20, when their car became stranded in water.
According to police, the father and older daughter were able to escape to safety/higher ground by jumping onto a vehicle.
The Bixby Fire Department identified the wife as 46-year-old Leila Seyed Faraji.
Their family was on their way to visit friends in the area when they took the wrong turn and ended up on a flooded bridge over a creek, according to the outlet, citing the TCSO.
Leonard is an unincorporated community located in the southeastern corner of Tulsa County. According to KOCO, the population in 2020 was 262.
“They thought they’d make it through, but the vehicle was overwhelmed by water. “It was a father, mother, and two daughters,” Casey Roebuck, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, told Fox 23.
Roebuck added that the search and rescue operations drew hundreds of concerned community members and agencies.
“We had dogs from Oklahoma Task Force 1, and we had drones. Yesterday, TPD had their helicopters up. We had people walking along the riverbanks. We had side-by-sides with crews and multiple boats in the water since yesterday,” she explained.
Faraji’s body was found Monday morning around 9 a.m., while her daughter’s body was discovered later in the day.
Ahmad Moradi, a family friend, expressed grief and planned to stay near the creek until the little girl was found.
“She was one of my best students, very well-mannered, enthusiastic, and a joy,” he told Fox 23 about Faraji.
He also stated that they were “really blessed” to have assistance from all of the organisations that were “going above and beyond” to locate Rosa after recovering her mother’s body.
“I’m hoping to find her alive, but chances sounds like it’s very slim,” Moradi told me. “But I’m hoping they will find her soon.”
