Investigators unsure if remains from fiery crash belong to missing South Korean family
Arizona officials are working to determine whether additional human remains discovered in the debris of a fatal pileup crash on Interstate 40 on March 13 are those of the South Korean family who went missing in the area at the time of the crash.
Jiyeon Lee, Taehee Kim and Junghee Kim have been missing for nearly two weeks after driving through a winter storm on their road trip between the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas.
Investigators have confirmed that one of the vehicles in the collision, which involved multiple passenger vehicles that 'were rear-ended, pushing them into, and in some cases, underneath crashed tractor-trailers,' was a BMW SUV, an update from the Coconino County Sheriff's Office said on Monday. The family had been traveling in a BMW rental vehicle, the sheriff's office said.
The vehicle's GPS data showed the rental car was last on Interstate 40 westbound around 3:27 p.m., coinciding with the fatal pileup accident on the same interstate during a winter storm, according to a release from the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
The crash happened around 3:27 p.m. on westbound Interstate 40 near milepost 159.5 in Williams, Arizona, on a snow and ice-covered interstate. Some of the vehicles involved in the crash burned for more than 20 hours at 'extreme temperatures, resulting in extensive destruction,' DPS told CNN Saturday.
Initially, Arizona DPS reported that the accident involved 22 vehicles and 36 drivers and occupants, resulting in at least two fatalities and injuring 16 people. Over the weekend, highway patrol investigators announced they had discovered additional human remains.
The intensity and prolonged duration of the fire 'have posed significant challenges for identification efforts,' the sheriff's office noted on Monday, requiring 'meticulous examination' in the process of identifying the additional remains found.
'The Yavapai County Medical Examiner's Office is diligently working to ascertain whether identification is possible,' the sheriff's office said. 'We understand the urgency and the emotional toll this uncertainty places on the families and the public. We kindly ask for patience and understanding as our teams continue to work with care and precision to bring clarity to this heartbreaking situation.'
The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles told CNN it would provide 'full support if the investigative authorities request cooperation regarding this matter.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hill
12 minutes ago
- The Hill
CNN correspondent detained by LAPD during live shot
A reporter for CNN was briefly detained by police on Monday while covering the widespread protests in Los Angeles following federal immigration enforcement operations in the area over the weekend. CNN cameras caught correspondent Jason Carroll being told by police he needed to leave the area he was reporting from and placing his hands behind his back as he and members of the network's crew were escorted away. 'I asked. 'Am I being arrested?' ' Carroll said of the incident on the network after he was escorted away. 'He said, 'No … you're being detained.' You take a lot of risks as press, this is low on that scale of risks, but it is something I wasn't expecting.' CNN, in a statement to The Hill, said it was 'pleased the situation resolved quickly once the reporting team presented law enforcement with their CNN credentials.' 'CNN will continue to report out the news unfolding in Los Angeles,' the outlet said. The protests in Los Angeles have sparked intense reaction from the White House, with President Trump mobilizing hundreds of Marines and thousands of National Guard troops, a move that has sparked criticism from Democrats and the state's governor.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
At least nine killed in Austria school shooting, authorities say
A shooter opened fire at a high school in the Austrian city of Graz, authorities said Tuesday, killing nine people, including teenagers, in one of the worst rampages in the country's history. Austrian police confirmed the fatalities, raising the death toll from an earlier figure of eight. The country's interior ministry told CNN that the victims included children between 14 and 18 years old. The perpetrator is also dead and the school has been secured, authorities added. Several more people are seriously injured, police said. Officers first responded to the reports of 'several' suspected gunshots at the Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium Dreierschützengasse school in the northwest of Graz at around 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). Several vehicles and a police helicopter were deployed to the site. The school was evacuated and the area was secured, with no further danger expected, the police said on social media. Austria's Chancellor Christian Stocker expressed horror at the shooting, writing on X: 'The rampage at a school in Graz is a national tragedy that has deeply shaken our entire country. This inconceivable act suddenly tore young people from the life they still had ahead of them. 'There are no words for the pain and grief,' he added. Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, said: 'It is difficult to bear when schools become places of death and violence.' Gun violence is rare in Austria, along with most central European countries. The country's rate of firearm homicides was just 0.1 per 100,000 people in 2021, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, compared to 4.5 per 100,000 people in the United States. But Austria's gun ownership is higher than most European Union countries; there are 30 civilian firearms owned for every 100 citizens, according to the Small Arms Survey, a research institute based in Switzerland. A small number of high-profile violent incidents have taken place there in recent years. Last October, the mayor of a northern Austrian town was shot dead, along with another victim. In February, a 23-year-old man stabbed five passersby in southern Austria in what police said was a random attack. This is a developing story and will be updated.


USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Police detain CNN correspondent on camera during LA protests
Police detain CNN correspondent on camera during LA protests Show Caption Hide Caption The Insurrection Act explained: What it is and how presidents use it The Insurrection Act allows presidents to deploy the military within the country during unrest. Here's what the law says and how it's been used. Police briefly detained CNN correspondent Jason Carroll while on air during the network's coverage of the Los Angeles protests. CNN was covering the protests live when in-studio anchors briefly lost contact with Carroll, who could be seen being led away from the protests by Los Angeles Police Department officers with his hands behind his back. Carroll returned to the mic, informing the anchors: "I am being detained." An officer then can be heard telling Carroll: "We're letting you go. You can't come back. If you come back, you will be arrested." Carroll then thanked the officers after being left behind the police perimeter. "I was called over, and the officer told me to put my hands behind my back. I said, 'Am I being arrested?' and he said, 'You are being detained,'" Carroll explained. He later added that he clarified who he was and that he was with CNN, to no avail. "They did not put me in zip ties, but they did grab both my hands as I was escorted over to the side. They said you are being detained while we lead you out of this area. You are not allowed to be in this area." In a statement, a CNN spokesperson said the situation was handled quickly. "A CNN reporting team was briefly detained in Los Angeles while capturing the events that were unfolding as police attempted to clear an area during the ongoing protests and police and military response in the city," the statement read. "We are pleased the situation resolved quickly once the reporting team presented law enforcement with their CNN credentials. CNN will continue to report out the news unfolding in Los Angeles." USA TODAY has reached out to the LAPD for comment. Carroll said these situations come with the territory of covering protests. "You take a lot of risks as press. This is low on that scale of risks, but it is something that I wasn't expecting, simply because we've been out here all day," he continued. "I've covered any number of protests, and normally the officers realize that the press is there doing a job."