The authorities had earlier found the body of Soumya Thottapilly, seven miles away from the crash site.Â
The hopes of finding the Thottapilly family alive has ended in distraught as the investigators on Monday announced that they have found the bodies of all four members of the Indian American family that went missing while on a road trip to San Jose.
After a week of thorough search and rescue operation undertaken by the California Highway Patrol, the authorities found the Honda Pilot car that the family was traveling submerged in the Eel River. On recovering the vehicle, divers found the bodies of two members of the family inside the car.
It is believed that the vehicle that the Thottapillys were traveling “disappeared†into the Eel River near Mendocino County on April 6. Corroborating the claim, an eyewitness in Mendocino County reportedly saw an SUV being swept away in Eel River.
Also Read:Â Personal belongings of Thottapilly family found in Eel river; woman’s body recovered
According to the latest release from the Mendocino Sheriff, they found the SUV that met with the fatal accident submerged under Eel River, half a mile away from the location where they believe the car plunged into the river.
“Search divers entered the water and were able to feel what they believed to be a person inside of the vehicle. Visibility was extremely poor and divers noted the vehicle was encased in a large amount of sediment from the river current,” said the press statement from the Sheriff’s office.
It took the authorities hours of effort to lift the car from the river and retrieve the bodies of Sandeep Thottapilly and Saachi Thottapily from the ill-fated vehicle.
“Recovery efforts continued for several hours and at approximately 6:30 PM the vehicle was partially removed from the Eel River by use of a tow truck. This provided searchers the ability to conduct a visual inspection of the inside of the vehicle. Searchers subsequently recovered the bodies of Sandeep Thottapilly and Saachi Thottapilly from inside the vehicle,” the press release added
Also Read:Â Body of a child recovered near site where four members of Thottapilly family went missing
The authorities had earlier found the body of Soumya Thottapilly, seven miles away from the crash site.
On Monday, CNN reported that the body of the 12-year-old boy, Siddhant Thottapilly, was found in 6 miles away from where the rest of his family was found dead.
Sandeep Thottapilly (42), his wife, Soumya (38), and their two children Siddhant (12) and Saachi (9) had been missing since April 5. They had left for a road trip from Portland, Oregon, to San Jose, California, last month.