- Authorities in Mendocino County today found the body of a 12-year-old Valencia boy who died along with his parents and sister when their SUV tumbled into a river amid a driving rainstorm.
The body of Siddhant Thottapilly was found at about 4 p.m. submerged in the Eel River about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) downstream from where the family vehicle reportedly crashed, Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Capt. Gregory L. Van Patten said in a statement.
The bodies of his father and 9-year-old sister were found inside the submerged auto on Sunday and his mother's body was found last Friday.
Rescue workers have been using helicopters, boats equipped with sonar, kayaks and river boards. The searchers began to probe the water and located a vehicle submerged approximately 4-6 feet beneath the water, according to van Patten.
The auto has not been located, and the police said the search would continue for the vehicle and its occupants.
The bodies of Markis, 19, Abigail, 14, and Jeremiah, 14, were found after the accident.
Authorities Identify Three Bodies Belonging to Missing California Family
Investigators also have identified a body recovered Friday as belonging to Sandeep Thottapilly's wife, 38-year-old Soumya . Sandeep, originally from Kerala, grew up in Surat city in Gujarat and settled down in the USA over 15 years ago.
In a statement on the rescue efforts, California's Mendocino County Sheriff's Office said, "At approximately 11:30 AM a boating team noticed a gasoline smell emitting from the water approximately 1/2 mile north of the reported crash site (downstream)".
Soumya Thottapilly was found in an area previously covered with water from the storm-swollen river.
Cindy Bartley, assistant to Chief Deputy Coroner Shannon Barney, told India-West that the bodies of Sandeep, Soumya, and Saachi are now with the coroner's office. He grew up in Surat, Gujarat, and settled down in the USA over 15 years ago, a relative said.
They were expected at a family member's home in San Jose on April 6, but they never showed. The family was last heard from in the town of Klamath, Del Norte County, on April 5, they said.
The Klamath River and a string of state and federal redwood parks lie along USA 101, north of where motorists saw the vehicle fall into the Eel River.
Siddhant Thottapilly was the last to be found after the family of four went missing earlier this month. Authorities later confirmed that the vehicle did belong to the family. The crash killed a married couple, Jennifer Jean Hart and Sarah Margaret Hart, both 38, and at least three of their six children. Three of the children have not been found.
