EL PORTAL, Calif. (AP) -- A man whose wife and daughter disappeared along with a friend while visiting Yosemite National Park says the FBI has confirmed his worst fears.
Jens Sund said he was told not to reveal what agents had told him Wednesday evening about last month's disappearance. But he told reporters at the FBI command center in Modesto: "I'm devastated. My worst possible fears have come true."A family friend who was at Sund's side during the FBI meeting said agents did not tell the family it had found the women, or even their missing rental car. "If they had found the ladies or the car, they absolutely would have told us," Lee Ulansey said.
Missing are Carole Sund, 42, her 15-year-old daughter, Julie, and Silvina Pelosso, a 16-year-old family friend from Cordoba, Argentina. They were last seen Feb. 15 at the Cedar Lodge, a restaurant and motel in El Portal on Yosemite's rugged western border.
A part of Carole Sund's wallet was found in Modesto, a two-hour ride from the lodge. The FBI had already said that the woman and two girls were probably dead.
Law enforcement agents riding all-terrain vehicles were searching Wednesday afternoon in the vicinity of the lodge. FBI agent Nick Rossi wouldn't reveal what agents told the family, but he said agents would focus their search around El Portal for the next several days.
"It's only natural that we would focus our efforts on the area where they were last seen," he said.
Rossi also wouldn't say whether the arrest of the restaurant's night cleaner Friday night has anything to do with their disappearance. The worker was jailed on a parole violation at the request of the FBI and his parole officer, the Mariposa County Sheriff's Department said.
On Wednesday, Merced County search and rescue team members looked for auto parts that may have been stripped from the woman's rental car.
"The instructions today were to search for any area that could have been dug up and used as a burial area and any man-made evidence that could have been in the hills," Tom Giraldin said.
Carole Sund, of Eureka, is a member of the prominent Carrington family, which made millions in northern California real estate. The family has offered $300,000 for information, and Jens Sund has stayed in Modesto to follow the latest developments.
"It doesn't look good for my family and I just have to say no comment, which I know sounds like a cop-out, but I do want to protect the strength of the case," Sund said.