Authorities in Mendocino County Monday said searchers found the bodies of two more members of a Valencia family of four who disappeared when their SUV tumbled into a river amid a driving rainstorm.
About 11:30 a.m. Sunday, searchers in the Eel River in the community of Leggett found a vehicle submerged about four to six feet below the surface of the water, and about 6:30 p.m., the SUV was partially removed from the river by a tow truck and two bodies were found inside, according to the Mendicino County Sheriff’s Office.
The bodies were those of Sandeep Thottapilly, 42, and his daughter Saachi Thottapilly, 9, the Mendicino County coroner’s office reported.
On Friday, searchers found the body of Soumya Thottapilly, the 38-year-old wife of Sandeep and mother of Saachi, and made a positive identification of the remains on Sunday.
The Thottapilly family — Sandeep, Soumya, their daughter Saachi and their 12-year-old son Siddhant — were traveling from Portland, Oregon, to San Jose when they “suddenly stopped communicating with family in Valencia” on April 5. Their last known location was near Klamath near the Oregon border.
The search is continuing for Siddhant Thottapilly.
Autopsies were pending.
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