The village of Ruidoso is located in the southern part of New Mexico and is a noted vacation spot boasting camping and recreation amid its expansive forest landscape. World Population Review notes the village rose to a total of 7,600 in 2025. That was a decrease of the population by less than 1% in recent years.

The two children were identified as Charlotte Trotter, 4, and Sebastian Trotter, 7, according to their aunt Tiffanie Wyatt. She said their father, Sebastian Trotter, a solder based at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and their mother, Stephanie, both suffered serious injuries but survived and were receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Texas.

The summer rainy season in New Mexico usually brings daily alerts about the potential for flooding around the arid state.

Stephanie Hopkins, a Whitehall High School graduate, lost her two young children, 7-year-old Sebastian and 4-year-old Charlotte, during a flash flood in Ruidoso, New Mexico Tuesday.

While Ruidoso recovers from flash flooding, one of Albuquerque’s biggest animal adoption groups is stepping in to help Lincoln County’s overwhelmed animal shelter.

Flash flooding from heavy rain killed at least three people and prompted dozens of rescues in the Ruidoso area of southern New Mexico, officials said — the same area devastated by wildfires last year.