![Hobo Joe, a 25-foot fiberglass statue and beloved Buckeye landmark, waves to traffic downtown. [Elias Weiss]](https://inbuckeye.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ELIAS-WEISS-PARTING-SHOT-scaled-e1785349192903-1024x636.jpg)
5 years ago
The search intensified for 24-year-old geologist Daniel Robinson, who disappeared after leaving a Buckeye job site in June 2021. In July 2021, his wrecked Jeep Renegade was found in a desert ravine near Sun Valley Parkway and Cactus Road, but Robinson was not with it. Buckeye officials coordinated searches across more than 70 square miles using air support, UTVs, drones and cadaver dogs. Robinson has still not been found, and Buckeye police said the missing person's case remained open.
10 years ago
Buckeye’s towering Hobo Joe statue left its longtime perch on Monroe Avenue in July 2016 after the property it stood on was sold. The 25-foot fiberglass figure, once tied to Arizona’s old Hobo Joe’s restaurant chain, had become a quirky local landmark. Crews moved him from 1015 Monroe Ave. toward a new home near 5th Street in Historic Downtown Buckeye. He later spent years in restoration before returning downtown as a familiar roadside symbol of Buckeye’s past.
15 years ago
Buckeye was still a town in July 2011, but it was already growing fast. The 2010 Census counted more than 50,000 residents, and new homes, roads and businesses continued pushing the once-rural community into a larger West Valley suburb. Buckeye did not officially become the City of Buckeye until 2014, making 2011 part of its final years under the “town” name.
20 years ago
Twenty years ago, late July 2006 brought heavy monsoon storms to Arizona. Flooding was reported across parts of the state from July 27-31 as repeated storms soaked the desert and overwhelmed washes. In the Buckeye area, the event reflected a familiar West Valley danger: fast-moving monsoon runoff that could turn dry washes and low roads into hazards with little warning.
