Authorities were mum Wednesday on whether a vehicle found over the side of Pacific Coast Highway in San Luis Obispo County, where a body was also recovered, was the Honda Civic that a missing North Hollywood couple took when they left for a pre-Christmas road trip to Big Sur.
Olivia Hannah Gonzalez, 20, and Brian Fernandez, 21, left Dec. 23 on what was to be a weekend trip, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. They had been expected to return Christmas Day and were still listed as missing this morning, the LAPD reported.
Firefighters were called about 3:35 p.m. Tuesday to the crash scene south of Ragged Point in the San Simeon area, which had been spotted by a helicopter crew, said Tony Cipolla of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department.
The body, described only as that of a female, was recovered by rescue crews on Tuesday night, Cipolla said. Her name was not immediately released.
The body was found along with a dead dog about 15 feet from the vehicle, which was about 325 feet over the side of PCH, California Highway Patrol Officer Patrick Seebart told the San Luis Obispo-based newspaper, The Tribune.
No other body had been found as of late Wednesday morning, Cipolla said. Crews will continue looking for other possible victims, but their efforts were hampered by heavy rain in the rugged area, Cipolla said.
An aerial search in Monterey County on Saturday for the tan 2002 Honda Civic four-door sedan Fernandez was driving turned up nothing.
The last word from the pair was about 11:40 a.m. Dec. 23, when Gonzalez texted her brother-in-law to say they were about two hours away from Big Sur and a woman reported seeing them that day near where the vehicle was found.
