LEGGETT, Calif. — Searchers have found the body of the last missing person from a family that perished after their SUV plunged into a rain-swollen river in Northern California.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office says that around 4 p.m. Monday, searchers found the body of a boy submerged in the Eel River about 6 miles downstream from where the SUV crashed.
The body has been identified as that of 12-year-old Sidhhanty Thottapilly.
The bodies of his father, 41-year-old Sandeep Thottapilly, and 9-year-old sister Saachi Thottapilly, were found inside the submerged car on Sunday. The body of his mother, 39-year-old Soumya Thottapilly, was found last Friday.
The family was traveling from Portland, Oregon, to their home in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita.
They were reported missing April 8 after failing to show up for a visit with relatives in San Jose.
Searchers last Thursday had recovered debris and personal items confirmed that an SUV seen plunging into the Northern California river belonged to the Thottapilly family, authorities said.
The vehicle itself hand not been recovered until Sunday. The river had been too swollen for divers to enter.
Searchers along the banks located numerous items consistent with a Honda vehicle and interior, and items consistent with a family traveling on vacation, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
"Several items have been positively identified, by family members, as belonging to the Thottapilly family," it said. "These items were of a personal nature and will not be described further at this time, but it does confirm the fact the vehicle that was seen going into the river was that of the Thottapilly family."
The family was traveling as a strong storm dumped rain on Northern California.
Before the family was known to be missing, authorities in Mendocino County received reports that a vehicle southbound on U.S. 101 went off the highway and tumbled into the Eel River. The vehicle had submerged by the time rescuers arrived.
Now that the vehicle has been recovered, the highway patrol will conduct a complete mechanical inspection as part of the accident investigation.
Hart family killed in Mendocino County crash
Farther south along the Mendocino County coast, authorities continue to look for members of a family missing since an SUV made a deadly and possibly intentional plunge off a towering ocean bluff along State Route 1 last month.
Sarah and Jennifer Hart and their six adopted children were believed to be in the family's SUV at the time. Five bodies were found March 26 near Mendocino, a few days after Washington state authorities began investigating the Harts for possible child neglect, but three of their children were not immediately recovered from the scene along the shoreline.
Associated Press contributed to this report