Briefs

• The South Korean Consulate General reported three missing women to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office on March 18th.

• The woman, believed to be traveling from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, was last pinged by a GPS near the site of a massive collision of 22 large piles on Interstate 40.

• DPS investigates the crash, and CCSO continues searching for the missing trio.

Phoenix – The search continues with the missing South Korean family who took the last photo of her visit to the Grand Canyon.

Coconino County Sheriff’s Office officials are seeking the public’s help during the search for the three people last seen on March 13.

Investigators say their last known location is on Interstate 40, and is very close to the crash of 22 vehicles that took place on the same day.

What we know

Kiyon Lee, 33, Taehee Kim, 59, and Junhee Kim, 54, (all women) were last known to travel to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon area on March 13, according to a flyer posted on the agency’s Facebook page.

It was about the same time as a Flaming pile crash Two people were killed on 40 interstates involving 22 vehicles and 36 people.

At the time of its disappearance, CCSO officials said the family was traveling on rental vehicles.

At 3:27pm, a 2024 BMW rental with California Plate was pinned on an I-40 near Williams.

Backstory

When the three of them didn’t make a flight to return home, a family known as the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles.

“We were contacted by the South Korean Consulate on March 18th to advise three missing individuals traveling from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas,” said an official with the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.

The family is scheduled to fly out of San Francisco on March 17th, and the South Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles says details of the missing person have been limited as per the family’s request.

They also say they are working with the DPS and the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and have requested a thorough and prompt investigation.

Things we don’t know

DPS is still investigating in connection with the crash, but it is still unclear whether Korean families are involved.

They were unable to comment on the fatal conflict as it is an ongoing investigation.

I’ll dig deeper

Additionally, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office has not been able to ping the car since then and has not seen any activity on the family’s mobile phones.

“It was our concern that GPS could have re-routed them due to the weather conditions that day and their major accidents. And if you’ve traveled to northern Arizona, once you’re re-routed, the GPS may re-rout on the Forest Service roads without knowing that weather conditions are strict,” the sheriff’s office said.

Coconino County lawmakers searched all corridors along I-40 in the area where the family BMW was last pinged.

What you can do

Anyone with information about the location of the three of them must call the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office (928) 774-4523 or (800) 338-7888.