Three family members visiting the U.S. have gone missing after they embarked on a trip to Las Vegas and drove through a snowstorm.
According to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office in Flagstaff, Ariz.,three women from South Korea — Jiyeon Lee, 33, Taehee Kim, 59, and Junghee Kim, 54 — set off from the Grand Canyon and were headed for Las Vegas in a rental car on March 13.
In a missing persons poster provided by the sheriff’s office, investigators wrote that the family had rented a 2024 white BMW with California license plate number 9KHN768. Lee was traveling with her mother, Taehee, and aunt, Junghee, sheriff’s office spokesperson Jon Paxton told ABC News on March 21.
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Authorities also said that GPS information taken from the car showed that the family’s last known location was when they were headed westbound on Interstate 40 in Arizona at around 3:30 p.m. on March 13.
A major crash occurred on a nearby highway that same day, but the sheriff’s office stated that it did not know if the women were involved in that accident.
“It was our concern that because of the weather conditions on that day and that major accident, their GPS may have rerouted them. And if you’ve ever traveled up in northern Arizona, when you get rerouted, sometimes GPS will reroute you out into a forest service road without knowing that weather conditions are harsh,” the sheriff’s office told Arizona affiliate station FOX 10.
According to Paxton, two people died in the pileup involving more than 20 vehicles, including several tractor-trailers and 13 passenger vehicles, per USA Today. Some of the cars involved in the crash had caught fire and authorities are having trouble identifying them.
“The big concern right now is, the ping that we had on that phone …. close to that time was also, a major accident had taken place on the interstate, very close to where that ping was located,” Paxton added to ABC News.
According to Paxton, the three women were set to fly out of the U.S. on March 17 from San Francisco International Airport, but their family became concerned after they did not hear from them and they missed their flight.
“We have visitors from all over the world that come here, but yeah, it is a little unusual to have three go missing at the same time,” Paxton added to AZFamily.
The missing persons report was then filed through the South Korean consulate in Los Angeles on March 18, ABC reported.
“We have dispatched a consul to the area and are working closely with the police to locate the missing people as quickly as possible,” the South Korean consulate added to the outlet, noting that its personnel had “provided all relevant information to the authorities.”
“Anyone who has had contact with this family since [March 13] or has knowledge of their whereabouts is requested to contact CCSO with any information,” the missing persons flyer states. “… If you have information about the above missing family please contact Coconino County Sheriff’s Office: 928-774-4523 or 1-800-338-7888. Silent Witness: 928-774-6111.”
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