Remains Found Of Missing Girl Found On Beach After Deadly Panga Accident

SAN DIEGO, CA — Authorities have identified human remains found last week at Torrey Pines State Beach.

DNA testing confirmed the remains were of Mahi Brijeshkumar Patel, a 10-year-old girl from India who was presumed dead after a panga capsized May 5 off the coast of Del Mar, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. Patel was traveling in the small vessel with her parents, older brother and about 15 other suspected undocumented immigrants when it overturned.

Emergency crews responding to the deadly human-smuggling operation recovered three bodies on the beach in Del Mar, including the body of Mahi's 14-year-old brother, Prince Brijeshkumar Patel, along with Mexican citizens Marcos Lozada-Juarez, 18, and Gorgonio Placido-Diaz, 55. All of the victims drowned, the Medical Examiner's Office reported.

Four survivors, including the parents of the siblings, suffered minor to critical injuries and were taken to hospitals.

Following eight-plus hours of searching the ocean and coastline for Mahi and any other possible survivors, authorities suspended the effort, with the girl still at large and presumed dead.

Five of the people who had been aboard the boat were arrested and charged in connection with the maritime human-smuggling event.

A passerby contacted authorities after finding human remains May 21 on Torrey Pines State Beach. The medical examiner did not provide details about the remains discovered along the shoreline, but CBS 8 reported that it was a heavily decomposed foot.

A ruling on the girl's cause of death was pending.