A worker who works along the government owned roadway along the Delta Mendota Canal says he reported tire tracks leading into the water in August of 2022. 

The worker who isn’t being named said he had been waiting to meet a family member along his work route not only to send his condolences to the family for their loss of Santana but to share that he was the one who had made a call to CHP (California Highway Patrol) to report his findings of the tire tracks which he in his own words described as something looking wrong.

The worker said when CHP arrived he was asked if he seen the car go into the water which he replied no. According to the worker the CHP officer told him “You didn’t see anything and I didn’t see anything so nothing happened”. The CHP officer left but his response didn’t leave the workers memory and feeling of it not feeling right.

The worker was clearly disappointed by the fact that Santana was later reportedly found in the Delta Mendota October 28th of 2022. He could’ve been found in August of 2022 the same month he was reported missing.

According to law enforcement in the area of where these canals and aqueducts are located that if no one actually sees a car go into the water then there’s nothing they can do to further investigate it.

Santana and his car had been reported missing the same month the worker reported the tire tracks to CHP.

Why wouldn’t they look into those tire tracks as possibly being someone who was reported missing and their car? The Delta Mendota where Santana and his car were found were not only in the same county but only less than a half hour away from Los Banos. According to LBPD they had put out the information into their system. 

From the outside looking in most would ask why wasn’t there any correlations?

Whether Santana and his car were found within the same month he was reported missing or not it wouldn’t have changed the outcome of his unfortunate death however it more than likely would’ve given the family and friends of Santana a chance to see him and have a more traditional funeral.

If Santana had been a young man from a suburban community we all know they would have had search teams and coordinated efforts with other local law enforcements and agencies involved as soon as those tire tracks were reported. We see it all the time in similar cases to Santanas across the nation and the state of California.

What do you think? Leave a comment.