Vickie Arlene Roberts |
| Posted 2025-08-24 by Pat R |
| Wickenburg Sun (Wickenburg, Arizona) Thursday, April 12, 1984, p. 1 Drowning accident ends in diver search A 13-year-old Wickenburg girl was the victim of a drowning accident in an irrigation pond on her parents property Monday evening, reported Wickenburg police. Vickie Arlene Roberts, daughter of Steve and Doris Roberts, of Wickenburg, was pronounced dead at Wickenburg Community Hospital after a team of four divers found her body in a pond 50 yards behind the family's home at about 9:30 p.m. Police reported that the child's mother reported her missing after searching the neighborhood and estimated she had been missing since about3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. In a search of the area, police reported, the girl's shoes and hat were found at the edge of the pond along with physical evidence indicating slippage into the pond. Police say they continued the ground search as Ambulance Supervisor/Emergency Services Lt. Ken Fovargue and concerned resident and diver Joe Hipp began the underwater grid search of the pond at 5:45 p.m. A total of 12 county divers were called in on the search, reported police, but it was the four-man dive team of Fovargue, Hipp, Ralph Pendergast and Dep. Larry Black that found the victim in approximately eight-to-10 feet of murky, weed infested water. Police said they continued a ground search of the general area while searching the pond and had alerted the Wickenburg Sheriff's Posse for a possible search of the Hassayampa River area near the 712 N. Weaver St. residence. Wickenburg Ambulance Service responded with two units and Wickenburg resident, Terry Craig, donated the use of two diving tanks. Police reported that the pond is estimated to be 70 feet in diameter and close to 20 feet deep in the center. Unfortunately, they reported, the girl was mentally and physically handicapped and unable to swim. She had celebrated her birthday on March 29. |
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