LA County Family Goes Missing During Road Trip

VALENCIA, CA — The effort to find a missing Santa Clarita Valley family has taken a critical turn as authorities confirmed the family's vehicle matched the description of an SUV that crashed into a river in Mendocino County where it was fully submerged before disappearing.

Searchers in Mendocino County were looking Tuesday for an SUV that was swept into a river last week. Relatives of the Thottapilly family from Valencia worry it could be their car. The family — father Sandeep, 42, mother Soumya, 38, and their two children, son Siddhant, 12, and daughter Saachi, 9 — were taking a road trip from Portland, Oregon, to San Jose.

They "suddenly stopped communicating with family in Valencia" last Thursday, and a notice of the family's absence was posted Monday on Facebook as a "Missing" poster, according to the Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

The notice reads: "We lost contact with them on April 5. Last known location is around Klamath -- Redwood National Park Area" in Northern California near the Oregon border.

The search was being conducted just north of Leggett, California Highway Patrol Officer William Wunderlich told The Signal Tuesday morning.

"On Friday, April 6, we received reports of a traffic collision of a vehicle into the Eel River," Wunderlich said. It happened on US Highway 101 at the Eel River, near mile post marker 95.

"The vehicle was completely submerged in the river due to the heavy rain. We are working on finding the vehicle but we are not able to locate it."

"Based on our preliminary investigation and witness statements, we believe the vehicle was a 2016 or 2017 Honda Pilot, maroon in color," he said. "This vehicle and the missing person's vehicle are similar but, at this time, we are unable to confirm it's the same vehicle. We have personnel at the scene searching, as well as CalFire Rescue crews searching so we are constantly evaluating the situation. We're searching a broad area but because of the moving river, it's a difficult search."

Officials at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station are investigating, too.

"We want to let our community know we are aware of the missing family story that @SCVSignal published," the department tweeted. "SCV Sheriff's Station is in contact with San Jose PD, who is handling the case. We will provide updates when we receive more info."

City News Service