Trio dies of hypothermia after falling through ice while walking on Arizona's frozen Woods Canyon Lake
COCONINO COUNTY, ARIZONA: Three people died after falling through the ice in frozen Woods Canyon Lake in Coconino County, Arizona, on Monday, December 26. Authorities claim that the trio broke through the lake's ice, slipped into the 30-degree water, and eventually died of hypothermia. The incident occurred at 3.35 pm.
Narayana Muddana, 49, wife Haritha Muddana, and another man, Gokul Mediseti, 47, were identified as the victims who were residents of Chandler, Arizona. All of them were Indian nationals. The couple had reportedly gone to the lake along with their daughters. Jon Paxton, a sheriff's deputy, said, "They were up here, recreational, enjoying it, wanted to get some pictures out on the ice," as reported by ABC15. Firefighters informed that two children and a woman were trying to save their loved ones when they slid through the ice and were just barely saved. When they finally made it out of the water and were able to get mobile coverage to ask for help, it was already too late.
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Paxton stated, "Hypothermia sets in very quickly at that point. And if you're not a swimmer, it's that much more difficult." A close friend of Mudanna's family named Parvathi Mettu started a GoFundMe campaign for the Muddana and Mediseti families. The fundraiser received $612,346 when this article was published. Pujitha, who is 11 years old, and Harshitha, who is 7 years old, are the two daughters of Narayana and Haritha. Both children were present when their parents fell into the lake, reported 12News. The wife and child of Mediseti were also present when the tragedy took place, but they were both safe since they had not gone onto the ice.
"Authorities in the U.S. have said that as the girls are minors, they can be sent back to India only with a blood relative," Chimmineni stated. "Either the paternal or the maternal grandparents of the children will be going to the US to bring them back."
In a statement issued on December 27, the sheriff's office said that after Haritha's body was recovered from Woods Canyon Lake on Monday evening, search efforts for the other two victims continued. The deputies acquired a second boat from a rental company close to the lake and carried out an extensive search. The bodies of the two additional men were found on Tuesday afternoon with the help of dive teams from the Gila County Sheriff's Office who used cold water equipment.