Steps underway to bring home bodies of two Kerala women killed in California

India’s Union Minister Suresh Gopi said on Monday that efforts were underway to bring home the bodies of two Kerala-born women killed in separate incidents in California, as police in two San Francisco Bay Area cities investigated what relatives say are connected killings involving a woman known to both victims.

Anjana Hari, 35, from Mannuthy in Thrissur, died after being struck by an SUV in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Milpitas on Friday. Ann Mary Mathew, 40, from Kesavadasapuram in Thiruvananthapuram, was found stabbed to death at a residence in nearby San Jose later the same day, Malayala Manorama reported.

A 32-year-old woman from Milpitas was arrested following Anjana’s death, while San Jose police said a woman who knew Ann Mary was identified as a suspect in the stabbing investigation. Kerala media reports and relatives have identified the woman taken into custody as Anila, 32, a native of Moonnilavu in Kottayam and a friend of both victims.

US authorities, however, have yet to publicly identify the suspect or confirm that the same woman is accused in both deaths.

Gopi said he had spoken on Monday morning with the Consul General of India in San Francisco about arrangements to repatriate the bodies.

“I spoke with the Consul General at the Consulate located in San Francisco, which has jurisdiction over California, this morning at 7.25 am. According to what he informed me, orders have been issued to the funeral homes handling funeral services to proceed with all the required documentation to send the mortal remains to their home country,” Gopi told reporters.

The minister said it was not immediately clear when US authorities would release the bodies because they could be retained while investigative and other legal procedures were completed.

“I am expecting an update from the Consulate later this day. Only after that will we know when the mortal remains can be brought or dispatched from there,” he said.

Gopi said the deaths had been confirmed as homicides, while details about the motive and investigation would become clearer once formal reports from US authorities reached India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs and NORKA.

Milpitas police said officers were called to the Mill Creek Apartments at 440 Dixon Landing Road at 12.01pm on August 28 following reports of a hit-and-run collision.

Witnesses told investigators that a blue SUV had left the parking lot immediately after the collision. Officers found a 35-year-old woman with severe injuries and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police searched the surrounding area and located a blue SUV in a nearby parking lot with damage that investigators said was consistent with the collision.

Its driver, described by police only as a 32-year-old Milpitas resident, was arrested.

The Milpitas Police Department said the circumstances leading up to the collision remained under investigation. US media, including the San Francisco Chronicle and Bay Area News Group, reported the arrest but said authorities had not disclosed the suspect’s identity or announced the charges she faced.

About two hours later, at 1.53pm, San Jose police responded to what was initially reported as a “suspicious circumstance” at a residence in the 700 block of Linda Vista Street.

Officers found an unconscious woman inside the home. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators from the San Jose Police Department’s Homicide Unit, assisted by the Santa Clara County Crime Lab and Medical Examiner’s Office, subsequently found that the woman had suffered at least one stab wound and classified the death as a homicide — San Jose’s 17th of the year.

Police said preliminary information showed that the victim and the female suspect knew each other and that investigators quickly identified a suspect. Her identity has not yet been officially released.

The motive and circumstances of the killing remain under investigation.

Kerala reports have identified the victim as Ann Mary Mathew and linked the woman suspected in her death to the woman arrested following Anjana’s death. US authorities have not yet publicly detailed the connection between the two cases.

The circumstances have particularly shocked the victims’ families because Anjana, Ann Mary and the woman now suspected in the deaths were reportedly friends.

Relatives said the women had recently attended an Onam celebration together and had also gone to watch a film.

According to the Times of India, a neighbour and family friend of Ann Mary’s said her family had received information about a possible job-related disagreement involving the suspect. Police have not confirmed this or established a motive.

Relatives of Anjana have also been told that Ann Mary may have been attacked first and that Anjana was subsequently called outside before being struck by the SUV. That sequence has also not been officially confirmed by investigators.

Anjana, the daughter of Haridas Thekkoot and Sushama of Mudikkode near Mannuthy, was a schoolteacher. She lived in California with her husband Vijesh, a software engineer, and their six-year-old daughter Vamika. The family moved to California in 2021, according to relatives.

Ann Mary was the daughter of Jiji Mathew and the late Bessy G. Mathew of Kesavadasapuram. She was married to Jacob, from Chingavanam in Kottayam, and had two daughters.

She had travelled to Kerala in June to attend celebrations marking her father’s 70th birthday before returning to the United States.

The families are now awaiting further information from US investigators while officials work to complete the formalities required to bring the two women’s bodies back to Kerala.