South Korean family mysteriously disappears on drive from Grand Canyon to Las Vegas

A South Korean household that was traveling crossed the Southwest and expected to depart from a California airdrome this week is missing, authorities say.

Jiyeon Lee, 33, Taehee Kim, 59, and Junghee Kim, 54, disappeared portion driving from the Grand Canyon toward Las Vegas connected March 13. GPS accusation connected the rented 2024 BMW they were driving showed the conveyance was past connected westbound Interstate 40 successful Williams, Ariz., soon earlier 3:30 p.m., said Jon Paxton, a spokesperson for the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office successful Arizona.

Paxton said their car was astir a mile distant from a deadly concatenation absorption clang connected the snow- and ice-covered road that progressive 22 vehicles. Two radical were killed,16 were injured and postulation was snarled on the highway, authorities said.

Authorities are inactive moving to place each the cars progressive successful that crash.

“The occurrence from that mishap burned truthful blistery for truthful agelong that a batch of those cars are unidentifiable,” Paxton said.

Investigators checked country hospitals for the family, but did not find them. Deputies besides searched some sides of the road by foot, aerial and car looking for signs of the radical oregon the BMW successful lawsuit they had been rerouted disconnected the highway. But determination was nary hint of them, Paxton said.

The household was traveling successful the country during a wintertime tempest that brought dense snowfall and whiteout conditions to bluish Arizona.

“Weather conditions were beauteous atrocious astatine that time,” Paxton said. “And if you get rerouted astir of the time, you get rerouted disconnected the interstate present successful bluish Arizona, and you extremity up connected a ungraded road. We checked each the roads, nothing. And we haven’t had a ping connected their phones oregon from the car since the 13th.”

Authorities successful Arizona were contacted by the South Korean consulate aft the household missed their formation retired of San Francisco connected Monday.

The BMW they were driving has a California licence sheet 9KHN768. Anyone with accusation is asked to interaction the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office astatine (928) 774-4523.