Crews continue road repairs; search goes on for two missing in flash floods
Crews on Sunday continued repairs on numerous roads damaged by flash floods throughout Mariposa County while authorities searched for two missing people.
Mariposa County sheriff's officials have said a woman and a man have been missing since Thursday as flash floods from heavy storms overtook roads throughout the area. The missing people are believed to have been swept away in separate incidents tied to recent storm-related flooding in the Sierra foothills.
Road crews worked through the night, trying to repair numerous roads closed throughout the county. Officials said the crews were working as quickly as possible to make the roads safe.
On Sunday afternoon, several roads remained closed, including a large portion of Yaqui Gulch Road. It was closed from Prairie Lane to Live Oak Road in Mariposa. Road as crews discovered the road was unsafe to use.
Sheriff's officials had not released the names or descriptions of the two missing people nor the circumstances of their disappearances.
The Union Democrat in Sonora identified the missing man as John Honesto, a former Sonora High School assistant wrestling coach and Tuolumne County resident.
Honesto's daughter indicated her father went missing about 12:30 p.m. on Thursday near Greeley Hill, about 75 miles southeast of Modesto.
On Sunday, the Stanislaus County sheriff's dive team searched a stream about a half of a mile west of Granite Springs Road, where surging water washed away a portion of Highway 132 in Mariposa County.
Not far from where the dive team searched is where authorities found Honesto's vehicle. He was last seen driving a Toyota Avalon.
While the dive team searched the water, officials from Tuolumne and Calaveras sheriff's departments walked along the stream's banks searching for the missing man.
Other authorities continued their search for the woman, who was reported missing Thursday afternoon in the area of Catheys Valley, which is about 20 miles northeast of Merced.
The Mariposa County Sheriff's Department also has searched for the two missing people. A helicopter from the California Highway Patrol's Fresno office has been used to get an aerial view of the search area.
This story was originally published March 25, 2018 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Crews continue road repairs; search goes on for two missing in flash floods."