Missing El Centro man’s car found in Box Canyon
Update – 11/7/18:
The body of Ankit Goyal was found on the afternoon of November 4 in the open desert near Painted Canyon Road and Box Canyon Road in Thermal.
According to deputies, Goyal was found in a large area of temporary muddy water that had been receding after recent floods. A possible cause of death has not been disclosed, but investigators say there was no evidence of a criminal act.
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Authorities were conducting a scaled-back search for an El Centro man believed to have disappeared in the Mecca area.
Ankit Goyal, 28, was believed to have been heading home from Joshua Tree National Park from a camping trip when he disappeared.
A four-day, large-scale search failed to locate him, authorities said Saturday.
Caltrans workers called the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Tuesday after finding Goyal’s empty silver Honda in Box Canyon.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. Andrew Nielsen said, “The vehicle appeared to have been swept off the roadway in the canyon, possibly during recent storms on September 30.”
The storms caused flash flooding in the canyon between Interstate 10 and Painted Canyon Road where Goyal’s vehicle was located.
Goyal was believed to have been headed home to El Centro at about that time, Nielsen said.
Deputies and Bureau of Land Management rangers searched the immediate area where the car was found and could not locate Goyal.
A search and rescue effort involving more than 200 searchers was conducted over four days time, according to Nielsen.
That included searchers and canine teams from around Southern California.
Items related to the vehicle were located throughout Box Canyon during the search. But Goyal was not located and the large-scale search effort was suspended Saturday, according to Nielsen. Scaled-back search efforts were continuing.
Goyal was described as Indian-American, 5’6″, 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts was urged to call El Centro Police at (760) 337-4525 or Investigator Jeff Hammond at (760) 863-8347.
Anonymous tips may be made to Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-STOP (7867).
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