‘BAD COINCIDENCES’

Rescuers in Recovery of Thai Students’ Bodies Find Signs of Second Missing Couple

Authorities suspect two couples drove off the same dangerous stretch of California highway.

Authorities working to recover the bodies of two missing Thai exchange students from a car trapped in California’s Kings River say they have stumbled upon signs of another missing couple possibly killed after driving off the same cliff. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office says rescue crews were struggling to draw up a plan to extricate the students’ bodies from a dangerous gorge off Highway 180 when they spotted a license plate and car parts that were traced back to a missing husband and wife from San Diego. “I think it’s a series of bad coincidences,” spokesman Tony Botti was cited as saying by the Los Angeles Times. “That entire stretch of 180 is very winding.” Authorities have now opened a parallel investigation into the second missing couple, as rescue crews struggle to access the wrecked vehicle where the bodies of two University of South Florida exchange students are thought to be trapped. Bhakapon Chairatanathongporn, 28, and Thiwadee Saengsuriyarit, 24, are thought to have died in their red sedan last month when their vehicle plummeted into the river from the highway above.