Body of last missing family member found in California river
LEGGETT, Calif. — Searchers on Monday found the body of a 12-year-old boy in a Northern California river — the last of four family members who perished when their sport utility vehicle plunged into the rain-swollen torrent.
The body of Siddhant Thottapilly was found at about 4 p.m. submerged in the Eel River about 6 miles (9.6 kilometres) downstream from where the family car reportedly crashed, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Gregory L. Van Patten said in a statement.
The body was found a day after the car with Siddhant’s father and younger sister inside were pulled from the river sediment.
A search team on a boat smelled gasoline about a half-mile (1 kilometre) downstream from where the crash was reported and found the Honda Pilot underwater, authorities said.