San Francisco man reported missing found dead inside crashed car in Fresno County
A man reported missing in Southern California has been found dead inside a vehicle that overturned into a dry Fresno County riverbed, according to authorities.
Christopher Liang, 21, of San Francisco was identified Sunday as the crash victim, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tony Botti said in a late-afternoon news release.
About 6:40 p.m. Saturday, a Los Banos-area California Highway Patrol officer arrived at the scene of a fatal traffic crash along Panoche Road, west of southbound Interstate 5, according to an agency news release.
The officer was guided to the crash by a witness who observed the vehicle down in a ditch, not visible from the roadway, the release stated.
Firefighters arrived and located the man inside a 2020 Tesla Model 3, according to the release. The CHP said the vehicle was going west on Panoche Road when it ran off the roadway, went off a cliff and overturned into the riverbed.
The vehicle’s license plate was linked to a missing person case out of the Irvine Police Department, the CHP said. Liang was reported missing March 1, 2022, and was last contacted by the person who reported him missing on Feb. 28, according to the release.
Due to a lack of witnesses to the crash when it happened, the CHP said it is estimated to have occurred sometime between Feb. 28 and March 5.
