GILA COUNTY, AZ — Hugh Baird was in Arizona from Wyoming, hunting javelina near Roosevelt Lake, when he ended up in the right place at the right time for a hiker who needed help.
That hiker had just trekked 10 hours in the pelting rain, all to try and save his friend's life.
"He was really beat up. I mean, his face was scarred and scratched. He was limping. His clothing was torn badly," Baird described.
That man would survive, but his friend would not.
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Gila County deputies have identified his friend as 44-year-old Shiloh Dorsett, a husband and father from Mesa, who was canyoneering near Roosevelt Lake over the weekend.
A strong storm moved through the area Saturday, producing heavy rain. Deputies say Dorsett was swept away by flash flooding.
"He was really emotional. He was crying," Baird told ABC15. "He lost his best friend. They had done this. He was just emotional."
Baird said the hiker explained how he tried his best to hold onto his friend, but the current was too powerful.
"He had him once. He said he tried to get a rope on him and he couldn't," Baird said. "That water was probably some of the ugliest stuff I've ever seen."
