NSW: Backpackers found in submerged car
Thu Jul 30 01:53:32 EST 2009
SYDNEY, July 29 AAP - The bodies of a Korean man and woman have been found in a car submerged in an irrigation channel nearly a week after the pair went missing in the NSW Riverina area.
Minseok Kim, 25, and Gyeonghwa An, 26, left a farm on McIntyre Road, Stanbridge, near Griffith, in a small gold-coloured Hyundai car about 3am (AEST) on July 22.
The two backpackers were reported missing at midday the next day when they failed to return to the property.
NSW police were called to the Sturt irrigation channel off River Road at Gogeldrie, where a Hyundai was found submerged with the bodies of a man and a woman inside at 1.30pm (AEST) on Wednesday.
The Hyundai was removed by crane and held for forensic examination.
"Police searching for two Korean backpackers missing for six days in the Griffith area have today found the bodies of a man and a woman," a NSW police statement said.
It's believed the pair were drinking with six other Korean backpackers for several hours before they disappeared.
Their personal belongings including passports, mobile phones and wallets were later found at the farmhouse.
Police, including Polair, were joined in the search by State Emergency Service and other volunteers, as well as NSW Forestry and Murrumbidgee Irrigation staff, with logistic support from the Salvation Army.
The search covered the surrounding area including irrigation channels, forests and farmland in the Murrumbidgee River region.
The bodies are yet to be formally identified and post-mortem examinations will be conducted to establish the cause of death.
Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the deaths, and a report will be prepared the coroner.
