Sushma Swaraj condoles death of four of Indian family in US

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (Photo: Video Grab/IANS))


External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday condoled the death of four members of an Indian family in the US who were reported missing earlier this month.

“My heartfelt condolences on the tragic deaths of Sandeep Thotapilly, Soumya and their two children,” Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

Stating that all the four bodies have been recovered from Eel river in California, she said that the government is helping their families in the visa process to enable their travel to the US.

Searchers recovered the submerged bodies of Sandeep Thottapilly, 41, and his daughter, Saachi, 9, from the Eel River in Leggett, California, on Sunday, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Monday.

A body recovered last week was later identified as Thottapilly’s wife, Soumya, 38. The body of the couple’s son, Siddhant, 12, was discovered around 4 p.m. on Monday. He was the last to be found, ABC-owned TV station KABC cited the authorities as saying.

The family were on a road trip to Oregon in their SUV and were returning to their home in California, when they went missing.

They were reported missing on April 8 when they failed to show up for a visit at their relatives place in San Jose.