Bodies Of Thai Exchange Students Pulled From River In Fresno: Sheriff

FRESNO COUNTY, CA — Authorities on Friday recovered two bodies, believed to be exchange students from Thailand, from the Kings River in Fresno County.

Although no positive identification has been made, the bodies are presumed to be those of the exchange students, a 24-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man, both of whom were enrolled at the University of South Florida. The bodies were pulled from a Hyundai Sonata that had been stuck against a rock since late July.

According to the sheriff's office, authorities were notified of an accident on the night of July 26 when a vehicle going along Highway 180 went through a guardrail, off a 500 foot cliff and into the Kings River. The sheriff's office was contacted by the CHP to search the canyon for a vehicle. (For more local news from Fresno, subscribe to the Fresno Patch.)

Authorities located a Red Hyundai Sonata in the river and records showed it belong to two Thai exchange students, 28-year-old Pakapol Chairatnathrongporn and 24-year-old Thiwadee Saengsuriyarit.

The location of the wreck included Class 5 rapids and a water flow of 1500 cubic feet per second, making a recovery operation too dangerous. The sheriff's office used aerial photos and could see two deceased people inside the car. They monitored conditions daily to determine when a recovery operation could take place and felt conditions were safe for recovery on Friday.

The car was left in the canyon and will be recovered at a later time.

The sheriff's office said they also located wreckage from a white Ford Focus that crashed sometime between Aug. 8-6 and is believed to belong to a missing Chinese couple. Authorities said they would wait to recover the wreckage when river conditions improve. The bodies of the missing couple, 31-year-old Yinan Wang and 30-year-old Jie Song, have still not been seen.

“I would like to thank the families of the victims for their patience and understanding during this long, difficult process," Fresno County Sheriff Mims said in a statement. "It’s always been our goal to deliver peace to you so that you could hold the necessary services for your loved ones. Hopefully you may now move forward in the healing process.

"I would also like to thank Thailand’s U.S. Consulate office in Los Angeles and the greater Thai community for its support throughout this operational planning phase. Having an open line of communication and knowing you were by our side was invaluable. Finally, I want to thank our personnel (deputies and volunteers) and other agencies such as the CHP and Caltrans for their hard work of rising to the challenge and reaching a successful outcome. This truly was a team effort.”

Image via Fresno County Sheriff's Office