Three South Korean tourists who were visiting the Grand Canyon in Arizona's southwest have been missing for ten days, with local authorities conducting search efforts.
According to CNN on the 22nd, a man named Im (33), his mother Kim (59), and Kim's younger sister (54) were reported missing while traveling from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas.
Police in Coconino County, Arizona, determined that the BMW rental car the group was in had passed through the Grand Canyon around 3:27 pm on the day they went missing, heading west on Highway 40 towards Las Vegas. The vehicle's GPS was tracked by the Coconino Sheriff's Office.
Authorities confirmed that the last signal from their cell phones was detected at this location, with no credit card transactions made by the group after the signal was lost.
A mile away from the GPS location, a severe snowstorm caused a 22-car pile-up resulting in two fatalities and 16 injuries. The crash led to a massive fire, making the vehicles unrecognizable.
A Coconino County police official mentioned that a major accident occurred on a nearby highway around the same time that the cell phone location signal was last detected, suggesting a potential link to the missing individuals.
However, the connection between the missing family's vehicle and the accident has not been established, and there is currently no evidence indicating their involvement in any criminal activities.
Authorities are considering the possibility that the navigation system may have led them onto forest roads unaware of the harsh weather conditions.
The group, who had visited the United States for travel purposes, had initially planned to return to Korea through San Francisco Airport on the 17th. When they could not be reached, their family in Korea requested assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leading to an investigation. The Consulate General in LA coordinated efforts with the Coconino County police and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Despite hospital checks and helicopter searches along Highway 40 and other nearby roads, the missing individuals have not been located. Police released their photos and distributed flyers in the area to aid in the search.