Yuba City man, woman missing since Aug. 6 found dead, officials say
Officials announced Wednesday that they found a man and woman, both from Yuba City, who disappeared earlier this month after a day trip they never returned from.
The Nevada County Sheriff's Office said it got a call from the Gridley Police Department in Butte County just after 5 p.m., explaining that a man called 911 to report a vehicle that appeared to have crashed near Highway 20 and Poker Flats Road in Penn Valley.
Officers from the California Highway Patrol responded with deputies to that area, the sheriff's office said. There, the man pointed out to them the vehicle that was down an embankment.
The sheriff's office told KCRA 3 that vehicle was not visible from the roadway.
The California Highway Patrol identified two deceased people outside the vehicle as 28-year-old Janette Pantoja and 36-year-old Juan Almanza Zavala. CHP does not know who was the driver at the time of the crash.
This part of Penn Valley is where family of Janette told KCRA 3 her phone last pinged.
Janette and Zavala went to Reno for a car show event called Hot August Nights on Aug. 6 and intended to return that same night but never did. Janette and Zavala dated for eight years but broke up a few years ago.
Family said Janette's younger sister spoke to her at around 11:30 p.m. that night when Janette said she was on her way home. Janette's current boyfriend spoke to her at around the same time, telling him she was 30 minutes away from home.
In a statement sent to KCRA 3 on Monday, both agencies said investigators have been looking through cellular data looking for leads on the two adults' whereabouts.
The sheriff's office searched the areas surrounding the last known phone pings, which were in Nevada County, and any residences that were associated in rural Nevada County. That includes the location where both bodies were found Wednesday night.