A South Korean family has mysteriously disappeared after a visit to the Grand Canyon.
Jiyeon Lee, 33, her mother Taehee Kim, 59, and aunt Junghee Kim, 54, were on vacation in the United States when they went missing earlier this month while heading from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities said GPS information from the trio’s rented white BMW last showed the trip on Interstate 40 in Williams, Arizona – the city about 35 minutes west of Flagstaff which is known as the gateway to Grand Canyon National Park.
It’s the same spot where a deadly pileup involving 22 vehicles — some of which burned beyond recognition — occurred, police said.
Police say they don’t know if the family was involved in the crash, but Coconino Sheriff’s spokesman Jon Paxton told ABC News Friday it was “possible.”
The South Korean consulate contacted Arizona authorities Tuesday, after the family missed their flight home out of San Francisco the day before.
The sheriff’s office spent three days searching the area, service roads and hospitals and say they have exhausted all leads.
