Family mysteriously goes lacking after journey to Grand Canyon, 22-car pile up could also be clue in disappearance
A family of three have vanished without a trace while on a trip to the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Jiyeon Lee, 33, along with Taehee Kim, 59, and Junghee Kim, 54, were last seen on March 13, driving a rented white 2024 BMW westbound on Interstate 40 having visited the canyon to head for the bright lights of Las Vegas.
But somewhere along the icy highway, amid the chaos of a devastating 22-vehicle pile-up, the family has disappeared.
For eight days there has been no activity on their credit cards, no pings from their cell phones and no sign of the car they were traveling in.
‘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,’ said Jon Paxton of the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office to AZFamily.
‘We’re operating with very limited information,’ said Paxton.
‘Since the 13th, there has been no phone pings that we’ve seen, no phone calls, no credit card use, and that GPS – there’s never been another point on that GPS on that vehicle. So that does make it difficult.’
The three women from the same family were on vacation, exploring was is usually one of the most scenic areas of the country.
On the day the family was last seen, the Arizona Department of Public Safety reported a horrific chain-reaction crash on an icy I-40 near Williams, a town just south of the Grand Canyon National Park.
A family of three have vanished without a trace while on a trip to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Pictured: Jiyeon Lee, 33, and Junghee Kim, 54
Taehee Kim, 69, left, and Junghee Kim, 64, right, were last seen traveling from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas amid a winter storm
The collision involved 13 passenger cars and multiple 18-wheelers. The storm caused a tractor-trailer to jackknife on the interstate
The collision involved 13 passenger cars and multiple 18-wheelers. The storm caused a tractor-trailer to jackknife on the interstate.
Two people were killed with some of the cars bursting into flames for more than 20 hours.
They were named Juan Beltran Sanchez from Chino Valley and Evelyn Davis from Ganado, which are both cities in Arizona.
Although investigators do not yet know if the family’s BMW was part of the fiery accident, the timing may not be a coincidence.
According to the sheriff’s office, GPS data showed the BMW traveling westbound on I-40 at exactly 3:27pm on March 13 – the exact same highway and same time where the massive crash occurred.
‘It was our concern that because of the weather conditions on that day and that major accident, their GPS may have rerouted them,’ the sheriff’s office told Fox 10.
‘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.’
Two people were killed with some of the cars bursting into flames for more than 20 hours
Although investigators do not yet know if the family’s BMW was part of the fiery accident, the timing may not be a coincidence
Local authorities have not ruled out that the family may have been caught in the deadly crash
Authorities said it is currently unknown if the family was involved in the multi-vehicle pileup
The ADPS said the collision involved 22 vehicles, including 13 passenger vehicles and a total of 36 people, two of whom were killed in the accident
The massive collision resulted in road closures and a multi-agency response to provide medical assistance and put out a fire that burned for 20 hours
CCSO released a missing persons poster for the family and asked the public for assistance in locating them
Local authorities have not ruled out that the family may have been caught in the deadly crash or driven into isolated, dangerous terrain during the storm.
The area is known for spotty cell service and confusing rural roads. GPS can fail and so can visibility – especially during a winter squall as was the case during the pile-up.
Anyone who sees the white 2024 BMW with a California license plate 9KHN768 is encouraged to call authorities.
