Indian family missing during road trip in California

Authorities are investigating the possibility of an accident after an Indian family of four on a road trip from Portland, Oregon, to San Jose, California, has gone missing since April 5.

Sandeep Thottapilly, 42, his wife Soumya, 38, and their children Siddhant, 12, and Saachi, 9, were in a maroon Honda Pilot with a California registration plate (7MMX138). They had travelled to Portland from Los Angeles, where they live. It was on their return trip that the family went missing.

The road through the Redwood National and State Parks in northern California that they took on Friday is narrow and adventurous. The weather on the route was extremely bad on Friday, with heavy rains and wind. The family had stayed in a resort on Wednesday and Thursday before restarting the journey on Friday morning.

Mr. Thottapilly had told a friend in San Jose to expect them by the evening. The family was planning to stay in San Jose on Friday night before returning home on Saturday. Schools opened on Monday after the spring break, and the family was planning to return in time for that, Saju Joseph, a functionary of the Federation of Malayalee Associations of Americas told The Hindu by phone from San Jose.

Mr. Joseph said when the family did not turn up at the friend’s place by Friday evening and the phones were switched off, the police was alerted. Mr. Thottappally’s brother from Canada and a cousin from Texas are in San Jose. The Indian Consulate in Los Angeles is also in touch with the police.

Mr. Thottappilly is a nature lover, who went on road trips often, with the family. The police have reportedly got some clues about the location of the vehicle as its GPS was on.