Mesquite police pull hiker from waist-deep mud off Virgin River

Careful, careful, especially in the heat, warns the Mesquite Police Department.

In a post Thursday on its Facebook page, the department shows how it freed a hiker who had been trapped for more than two hours waist deep in mud in a wash near the Virgin River.

“Even if you’re used to it, heat can overpower you quickly and unexpectedly,” the post said.

Mesquite police took an emergency call from the hiker who had a cellphone and then stayed on the phone with him until a crew found him, the post said.

“Dispatchers used some awesome technology to locate the area he was in and stayed on the phone to help keep him calm,” the post said. “Officers and detectives searched the area on foot and in our UTV [utility terrain vehicle]. They found him in an area of dense bushes and deep mud, helped him to safety, and out of the heat.”