SUV that plunged into California river found, 2 bodies in it
UPDATE: 4/16/2018 9:47 a.m. Authorities searching for a family whose SUV plunged into a rain-swollen Northern California river have found the vehicle and the body of a man and a girl inside it.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that searchers located the car Sunday and recovered the bodies of 41-year-old Sandeep Thottapilly and 9-year-old Saachi Thottapilly.
The office also said the body of an adult female found in the Eel River on Friday has been identified as 38-year-old Soumya Thottapilly. The couple’s 12-year-old son, Sidhhanty Thottapilly remains missing.
The four members of the Thottapilly family went missing while traveling from Portland, Oregon, to their home in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita.
They were reported missing April 8 after failing to show up for a visit with relatives in San Jose.
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Authorities searching for a family whose SUV plunged into a Northern California river have found the body of a child.
Mendocino County Sheriff Thomas Allman said Friday a boat team recovered the deceased juvenile about 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of where the family’s SUV fell into the rain-swollen Eel River last week.
The juvenile has not yet been identified but authorities believe the child had been in the SUV.
Two children were among the four members of the Thottapilly family of Santa Clarita, California, who were reported missing.
The search along the Eel River is north of where another search has been going on along the Mendocino County coast for members of a family of eight whose SUV plunged off a towering ocean bluff and into the surf line below.
Five bodies were found March 26 but three children were missing. A body pulled out of the surf last weekend was not immediately identified.
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