The Associated Press
BISBEE, Ariz. — A 60-year-old female employee of the National Park Service was critically injured in an apparent assault in southeastern Arizona, authorities said.
The woman was found unconscious Wednesday afternoon in the Chiricahua Mountains in a picnic area restroom, apparently suffering from a head injury, the Cochise County Sheriff’s office said.
The office said in a press statement that she was airlifted to a Tucson hospital in critical but stable condition. No other details were released on how she was hurt and the extent of her injuries.
The woman’s government vehicle was missing and authorities located it abandoned in the city of Douglas by tracking her cell phone, which was still inside the vehicle.
Deputies were working closely with federal and state law officers to " identify the suspect(s) who apparently seriously injured a federal employee,” Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said.
Officials said that the FBI had joined the investigation.
Media reports said the attack occurred at the Chiricahua National Monument, about 90 miles east of Tucson, and that the woman was also robbed. But those details were not confirmed by the press statement and the sheriff’s office said official spokesmen wouldn’t be available for comment until later in the morning.