Korean family missing since major winter-related crash on Arizona interstate
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) — Authorities in Arizona are searching for three women who were reportedly traveling on a portion of Interstate 40 around the same time as a massive weather-related crash.
Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help for 33-year-old Jiyeon Lee, her mother, 59-year-old Taehee Kim, and her aunt, 54-year-old Junghee Kim.
The sheriff’s office said the family was on vacation, visiting from South Korea, and was traveling from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas late last week.
“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.
Paxton said the Korean Consulate in Los Angeles notified deputies about the case on Tuesday after the trio missed their flight home out of San Francisco on Monday.
“Whether they were flying from Vegas to San Francisco, I don’t know,” Paxton said. “Maybe they were driving to San Francisco on the 14th or 15th, it’s hard to say.”
They were in a rental car described as a 2024 BMW with California license plate 9KHN768.
According to investigators, the last recorded GPS data from the vehicle was westbound on I-40 just before 3:30 p.m. on March 13, about a mile from where a massive winter weather-related crash happened.
The crash occurred in the westbound lanes of I-40 near Williams and involved about 20 vehicles. The crash resulted in a fire that burned for more than half a day and the deaths of two people.
The sheriff’s office is aware of the crash, but investigators don’t know if the family was involved. A spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the agency that investigated the crash, said troopers are still working to identify all the cars involved.
Detectives don’t know if this missing family was part of the fiery pile-up.
“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,” Paxton said.
Investigators have driven all the roads in the area looking for the car and the missing women, but have no sign of them so far. Dog and helicopter searches have also turned up nothing.
“We don’t have any reason to believe there’s any foul play,” Paxton said.
The Korean Consulate confirmed that an officer was sent to Arizona to collaborate with law enforcement.
Anyone with information about their whereabouts is asked to call the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office at 928-774-4523, 800-338-7888 or Silent Witness at 928-774-6111. The missing persons report number is S25-00828.
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