The bodies of three Fairfax County friends were found in a wooded area off a Maryland interstate, more than two days after they were last seen, authorities said.
Investigators said the three men died in a fatal wreck after their car went over a highway ramp early Sunday, but the area was so densely wooded that no one noticed the crash site until Tuesday.
The victims -- friends and roommates who lived in Fairfax, Virginia -- have been identified as Vignesh Ashokan, 23; Sharath Sudershanam, 24; and Moka Mallikarjun, 25.
The three men had been visiting friends at a home in Cockeysville, Maryland on Sunday and left around 1:30 a.m. to return to their apartment. Investigators believe the crash occurred shortly after they left Cockeysville early Sunday morning.
Their fourth roommate, Harish Magandi, filed a missing person's report with police after the three men never arrived home.
"They're very studious, they got good grades ... I'm feeling really bad," Magandi said.
The bodies of the three men were found Tuesday afternoon after another driver noticed crash debris in a wooded area along a highway ramp leading from Interstate 83 to the outer loop of Interstate 695 in Maryland.
Troopers found multiple pieces of the car and the bodies of the three men.
Authorities believe Mallikarjun was driving his 2012 Volvo S6 south on I-83 when the car left the ramp and entered the wooded area. Investigators say the car traveled about 300 feet before striking a tree. The impact caused the car to break into multiple pieces.
Authorities said they were not discovered earlier because the crash was a distance from the roadway and was hidden by trees and brush.
Ashokon and Shanam recently moved to Fairfax from India to get their Master's degrees at Virginia International University four months ago. Mallikarjun worked at a bank.
"They're very funny, they're good guys," Magandi said.
