Found Deceased CA - Jie Song & Yinan Wang, 31, Sequoia National Park, 6 Aug 2017

[Gardener1850]

A flyover of the area where the license plate and other car parts were found turned up no signs of Wang or Song, officials said. No bodies have been found in the Kings River, but park officials down-river will continue to check. Skid marks that lead off the highway about 30 feet up from where the Thai couple is believed to have driven off the cliff may be connected to the San Diego pair, Botti said.

“At the time, it really didn’t mean much because we all thought it was related to that one car,” Botti said, referring to the red vehicle.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-kings-river-missing-couple-car-20170814-story.html

 

[whitelilac]

Thanks for the Thai newcast. Looking at the video, there is a turn out where the red car went over, and before that a straight portion before that curve.
As for the white car, only 30 some feet before that.....awful....

 

[Lilibet]

I wonder where the the second couple went off the road. Was it exactly the same spot? There are a lot of turn outs on this road to stop to allow cars behind you to pass, or to look at the view, and which are not asphalt....sandy or gravel. I remember that some of them were a bit scary, you really had to slow down. Could the car have slipped off the edge of one of these?
Such a senseless tragedy for both young couples....

I have an almost irrational fear of edges (I hated the Grand Canyon, for example). This kind of road terrifies me, and I've been on plenty of them. If we pull over into a turnout, I'm always afraid we'll just slide right off. I think if you miscalculate your speed as you pull over you could skid on the gravel/dirt very easily. Here they were on vacation seeing some of the most spectacular scenery in CA. Probably one small miscalculation cost them their lives. It could happen to anyone.

Could the car had been hit from behind? Could explain the license plate coming off the white car.

I think going off the road would knock off the license plate. I think the plate was seen in video and wasn't on the road, but off the side IIRC.

Are the bodies left in the cars because it's too dangerous to recover them? So sad...

Also - it looks like more than just a license plate, appears to be a bumper or some piece of the car the plate was attached to.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, at this point it's too dangerous to recover the bodies because the river is moving to rapidly. I read that they expect it to slow down to a safer speed soon.

I believe there were other car parts retrieved with the license plate and turned over to the CHP before they were reported missing. Sorry, I'm too tired and lazy to look for links.

 

[Lilibet]

A little more about this couple. They are both Chinese nationals. He has been in San Diego about a year. She lives in China and visits several times each year. I'm quite sure this is the same Yinan Wang I posted about earlier. He arrived in San Diego a year ago.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/sd-me-missing-couple-20170814-story.html

 

[Seajay]

The radios really do look too dangerous for anyone to go down there and risk their lives to retrieve two dead bodies. We don't need this tragedy to create more victims. Rescue workers work in dangerous situations but sometimes it's just foolish to risk your own life for something like this. I understand the families impatience in wanting their loved ones home bu let's not creat a tragedy for someone else's loved ones. IMO

 

[whitelilac]

from the link above:

"Botti said the crashes appear to be “a strange coincidence,” and that there is nothing particularly dangerous about that stretch of road. The crashes occurred about 50 feet from each other. Investigators aren’t sure why either crash happened."

I'm really baffled by the weird coincidence. Thousands of people have driven that road, including me......and this happens TWICE in the space of a week and a half, 50 feet apart on a long road with so many curves and turnouts? Why? It's eerie. Is there an animal that frequents that area, recently and goes on the road and they swerved? TWO couples go off the edge in nearly the same spot? Was it the sunlight that blinded them, bad time of day? I don't know what to think. It's so strange.

 

[Elainera]

What a terrible tragedy! Horrifying to see that red car in the river knowing what is inside ....

Could Jie Song and Yinan Wang have heard about the Thai couple's fate and driven too close to the edge to see if they can spot the car in the water?

 

[Gardener1850]

What a terrible tragedy! Horrifying to see that red car in the river knowing what is inside ....

Could Jie Song and Yinan Wang have heard about the Thai couple's fate and driven too close to the edge to see if they can spot the car in the water?

I don't think so because there are skid marks 40-50 feet apart that they think are from two different cars. That would indicate they were going too fast and tried to stop before going over the edge. Perhaps weather conditions were similar over the week between the 2 crashes. Just very sad.

 

[Gardener1850]

Video from today: http://www.yourcentralvalley.com/ne...-to-hold-vigil-for-missing-students/789289875

Shows a worker measuring the distance on the road between the two locations the cars went off the road and says the white car is still underwater but the cars are estimated to be about 30 feet apart. The water levels have dropped and are expected to continue to drop.

 

[GigTu]

Gruesome. Tragic. Sad. I'm so sorry to the families.

 

[GigTu]

While watching a TV news clip on the missing Thai couple, a Fresno County search-and-rescue team member spotted a California license plate and car parts in some brush and made a note of its number — 6XMM431. Days later, the plate was linked to a missing husband and wife from San Diego.

The discovery has triggered a second, parallel investigation in the same area where University of South Florida exchange students Bhakapon Chairatanathongporn, 28, and Thiwadee Saengsuriyarit, 24, are believed to have perished in their red sedan. The wrecked vehicle was spotted July 26 in rapids at the bottom of a treacherous gorge some 500 feet below Highway 180.

The team member checked records on the license plate, but that didn’t turn up any reports of a missing or stolen vehicle or a crash. But team members submitted the license plate along with some other car parts found in the area — about 40 yards upstream from the Thai couple’s vehicle — to the California Highway Patrol so it could create a report.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-kings-river-missing-couple-car-20170814-story.html

Zooming in on this picture must be very upsetting to their relatives. You can see things no one should ever see.

 

[Seajay]

from the link above:

"Botti said the crashes appear to be “a strange coincidence,” and that there is nothing particularly dangerous about that stretch of road. The crashes occurred about 50 feet from each other. Investigators aren’t sure why either crash happened."

I'm really baffled by the weird coincidence. Thousands of people have driven that road, including me......and this happens TWICE in the space of a week and a half, 50 feet apart on a long road with so many curves and turnouts? Why? It's eerie. Is there an animal that frequents that area, recently and goes on the road and they swerved? TWO couples go off the edge in nearly the same spot? Was it the sunlight that blinded them, bad time of day? I don't know what to think. It's so strange.

I've driven that road as well and I don't remember anything hair raising about it. We do take it slow, because there is so much to see and usually enough traffic to where you constantly have to pay attention.

I follow your thought that something goes into the road that is not expected and would cause a driver to swerve to avoid it. A bear r deer maybe?

And depending on time of day, it is possible that the sun may be in the driver's eyes, temporarily blinding them to the curve. There is such a spot on the way to my parents in Lake Isabella.

Those roads can't be taken fast. Caution is needed throughout the drive. IMO

 

[whitelilac]

A guy makes a comment that he drove that road the same day the couple went missing, saying that there were lots of small rocks from the upper slope falling down on the road. It's possible something like this happened, startling the drivers and causing them to swerve, while perhaps driving a little too fast down the straight part before the curve.
I feel so sorry for the families.

https://www.facebook.com/SequoiaKingsNPS/

 

[whitelilac]

Also, article about the investigation
https://www.fresnosheriff.org/media...ice-investigating-case-of-missing-couple.html

 

[moonriverfarm]

Zooming in on this picture must be very upsetting to their relatives. You can see things no one should ever see.

I zoomed and could not make anything in particular out. Am i missing something?

 

[GigTu]

I zoomed and could not make anything in particular out. Am i missing something?

Maybe it's in my mind, but at the link when zooming in it looks like a face in the passenger window.

 

[Davia18]

What terrible sad tragedies. Breaks my heart and what a horrible way for your life to end.

 

[Lilibet]

I zoomed and could not make anything in particular out. Am i missing something?

Maybe it's in my mind, but at the link when zooming in it looks like a face in the passenger window.

In the articles I've read it says both air bags deployed, blocking the view inside. Thankfully!!

 

[Elainera]

In the articles I've read it says both air bags deployed, blocking the view inside. Thankfully!!

In the Thai news clip posted a little while back one could see something white inside the car. That must be the air bags.

 

[GigTu]

When the live video shows the water streaming around the car, you can see the airbags outside of the car, floating in the water, but still attached.