Girl still in serious condition
CHLORIDE, Ariz. -- A 10-year-old girl who survived a fall into a mine shaft remained in serious condition Tuesday in University Medical Center.
No other information was available on the medical condition of Casie Hicks, who along with her sister fell into the shaft while riding an all-terrain vehicle in the hills near Chloride during the weekend.
The sister, Rikki Howard, 13, was found dead in the shaft.
The mine where the girls fell is next to a dirt road, obscured by brush and had no signs or barriers.
Arizona State Mine Inspector Joe Hart said federal land-use maps indicated that the accident occurred at the Brighter Days Mine on private land. Hart did not have any further information about the property or mine ownership.
Efforts to find the mine's owner through searches of Arizona and Nevada incorporation records were unsuccessful.
Officials say there are 100,000 abandoned mines in Arizona, a state with a long history of gold and silver prospecting. Many date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s.
