Sandeep Thottapilly along with his wife Soumya, and their children Siddhant and Saachi were on a road trip from Portland, Oregon, to San Jose, California, when they went missing.
Sandeep’s family was travelling in their maroon Honda Pilot and their friends in the US have said they’re concerned because the family was scheduled to stop in San Jose on Friday for a quick visit but they never arrived.
Media in the United States on Wednesday reported a search is underway north of Leggett in Eel River for an SUV that was swept away with its occupants in flood waters on Friday, which matches the description of the SUV driven by Sandeep’s family.
reported a local Highway Patrol Officer William Wunderlich told The Signal newspaper that there had been a report of an SUV crashing into the river last Friday.
Source: SBS
“The vehicle was completely submerged in the river due to the heavy rain,” he told the paper. “We are working on finding the vehicle but we are not able to locate it.”
The local authorities have been carrying out search operations and monitoring the river in attempts to locate the vehicle.
Sandeep works with the Union Bank in the US and his father, Babu Subramaniam Thottapilly, based in India has reached out to the bank and India’s Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj for help.
Sandeep’s aunt told SBS Hindi the family has been told about the search operations being carried out in the region after the SUV believed to have plunged into the river matched with the description of Sandeep’s car.
“His parents are naturally worried but are trying to be strong as we await news,” she said.
She said Sandeep’s brother, Sachin was in touch with the local authorities as they await news about the missing family.
