Police have found two bodies - a woman and a child's and some vital personal belongings during their search operations in the river after an Indian family was reported missing while on a road trip in the United States on April 6th.
Sandeep Thottapilly along with his wife Soumya, and their children Siddhant and Saachi were on a road trip from Portland, Oregon, to San Jose, California, when they went missing in the first week of April.
Sandeep’s family was travelling in their maroon Honda Pilot and their friends in the US have said the family was scheduled to stop in San Jose on April 6th for a quick visit but they never arrived.
Local authorities initiated a search operation for the family north of Leggett in the Eel River for an SUV after a local Highway Patrol Officer reported an SUV, matching the description of Sandeep’s car, being swept away with its occupants in the flood waters on Friday.
Source: SBS
Almost a week later, police have found a body of a woman and a child they believe belongs to the missing family, originally from India.
The body of an unidentified adult woman and a child was located about seven miles north of the reported crash site, the Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said .
Previously, personal items that were “consistent with a family traveling on vacation” as well as car parts had been found from the Eel River.
“It does confirm the fact the vehicle that was seen going into the river was that of the Thottapilly family,” the California Highway Patrol said late on Thursday.
“The body was found on exposed terrain” that appeared to have been covered by recent heavy rains, Capt. Gregory L. Van Patten, field services commander of the sheriff’s office, wrote in the .
The bodies are still to be identified. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.
Sandeep worked with the Union Bank in the US and his anxious father, Babu Subramaniam Thottapilly, based in India had reached out to the bank and India’s Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj for help.
Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she had been in touch with the consulate in San Francisco and has assured help to Sandeep’s family based in India.
