Woods Canyon Lake Arizona: GoFundMe raises over $400,000 after three people die after falling through ice

Three Indian-Americans died at Coconino County’s Woods Canyon Lake in Arizona on Monday, December 26. They were walking on the frozen lake when they fell through the ice and drowned. Initially, it was reported that four people had died, but the number was later corrected to three. A fundraiser campaign has been organized for the family members of the victims.

Located about 30 miles east of Payson city in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, Woods Canyon Lake is a popular place for hiking and outdoor activities.

Coconino County Sheriff’s officials have identified the three victims as Gokul Mediseti, 47, Narayana Muddana, 49, and Haritha Muddana. Haritha’s age is still unknown. The three of them are residents of Chandler, Arizona, and are originally from India.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said that Haritha Muddana’s body was found in Woods Canyon Lake by emergency crews on Monday night, after which they continued searching for the other two victims. They added:

"Responding deputies and fire units were able to pull the female from the water and administer life-saving measures but were unsuccessful.”

After recovering Haritha’s body, the deputies acquired another boat from a rental service adjacent to the lake and conducted a thorough and expanded search. On Tuesday afternoon, dive units from the Gila County Sheriff’s Office assisted the CCSO in recovering the bodies of the two other males using cold water gear. The police are still investigating the matter.

Woods Canyon Lake (Image via Twitter/ZachCrenshaw)

The statement said:

“Deputies stationed at a substation in the area were called to the lake after two men and a woman were walking on the frozen lake and fell through the ice.”

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The Muddana couple who died at Woods Canyon lake left behind two young children

According to officials’ reports, Narayana Muddana and Haritha Muddana were husband and wife. They have two daughters, Pujitha and Harshitha, aged 11 and 7, respectively. Both children witnessed their parents drown in Woods Canyon Lake.

The Muddana children are staying with a neighbor, Kishore Pittala, who spoke with 12News.

“It’s really unfortunate. They were in shock. I could clearly see that in their faces, they were in shock.”

Pittala said that Narayana and Haritha have lived next door for the past year. The two families moved into the area within weeks of each other. He also shared that both his and Muddanas' children attend the same school. While Narayana Muddana used to take his daughters to school in the morning, Pittala picked them up in the afternoon.

The girls will be looked after by Kishore Pittala until their grandparents can arrive from India. He added:

"I’m still a little bit shocked, to be honest with you. So, I’m still looking at how these two kids … what’s their future? All that stuff. Most of the people are coming to see, to look after, and see the kids, how they are doing, and everything…"

Kishore Pittala was also supposed to join the Muddanas on their day trip to Woods Canyon Lake, but he just returned from his trip to Mexico, so he preferred to stay home. He said he never imagined the trip would take such a dreadful turn.

Muddana family and Gokul Mediseti (Left to right) (Image via GoFundMe)

He shared that the victims were taking photos on the lake when the ice broke. The other people who were there rushed to help them. Gokul Mediseti was one of them, but he fell into the ice-cold water himself and drowned. Gokul is survived by his wife and child.

Pittala said that, in total, seven people fell into Woods Canyon lake. One of the women pulled the two Muddana kids out. Two of the other adults crawled back up on their own, except for the Muddana couple and Gokul, who were unable to make it out of the ice water.

(Image via GoFundMe)

A fundraiser on GoFundMe with a targeted goal of $450,000 has been set up by Parvathi Mettu for both Muddana and Mediseti’s families. Up until now, $418,202 has been raised. Some donors have also left their condolences for the families under the ’Words of Support' section on the page.