Body Found in Canal Identified as 21-Year-Old Mom Who Went Missing After Dune Buggy Crash

A heartbroken family has been given a small bit of closure after the body of 21-year-old mother Lupita Zúñiga Ontiveros was found following a dune buggy crash that threw her and three others into the water.

“We still don’t know why my niece was the only one who didn’t get out,” her uncle, Cesar Ontiveros, said. “They say it is under investigation, but they don’t really tell us anything.”

According to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, around 10:15 a.m. local time on Feb. 8, deputies received a report of a body located in a canal about seven miles from the site where Lupita was last seen near the Central California town of Gustine.

The Sheriff’s Water Recovery and Rescue Team responded and recovered the body, and the Merced County Coroner’s Office officially identified the Stockton mother on Feb. 10.

Before she was found, Lupita’s community came together to help search and support her family.

A GoFundMe account was also set up to help cover funeral costs and care for Lupita’s 18-month-old daughter, Deylani. It had raised nearly $19,000 as of Friday, Feb. 13.

Lupita’s mother, Ana Ontiveros, lives with her brother Cesar’s family in Stockton, and said her granddaughter is currently living with them. “We are talking to the father’s family to work something out,” she said.

As they navigate their grief, the family says many unanswered questions remain — including how the others involved in the crash got out of the canal while Lupita did not.

“We just want to try to find the truth. If it was an accident, it was an accident,” Cesar Ontiveros said, adding that Lupita could not swim, unlike the others involved.

Although the county conducted an autopsy and results are pending, Cesar Ontiveros said his sister commissioned a second private autopsy. Those results, he said, won’t be available for some time.

California Highway Patrol said it received a call shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Jan. 29, reporting that a dune buggy had fallen into the Delta-Mendota Canal near State Route 140, one of the main roads leading to Yosemite National Park.

Elixandro Naranjo Miranda, 21, was driving along the bank with three passengers, authorities said. Miranda and two of the passengers, who have not been publicly identified, were able to swim to the bank and climb out.

The third passenger, identified by her relatives as Lupita, went missing in the dark, murky, fast-moving water.

Miranda fled the scene but was later arrested at his home and booked into Merced County jail, officials said.

CHP spokesperson Shannon Stiers said Miranda was arrested for alleged felony hit-and-run, but did not have additional details. The spokesperson later referred inquiries to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, which has not responded to requests for comment.

The other two passengers were taken by ambulance for moderate injuries.

Relatives said there was another dune buggy nearby with a driver and passenger who were not involved in the crash, but witnessed what happened.

For now, the family said they are trying to heal. There are tentative plans to hold a vigil on Feb. 20, followed by her funeral the next day.