Friends Who Went Missing After Wedding Found Dead in Submerged Car: 'Life Will Never Be the Same'
RIPON POLICE DEPARTMENT Xylona Gama; Alyssa Ros
Two women who went missing after leaving a wedding party in Northern California were found dead nearby in a submerged vehicle on Tuesday.
The bodies of Alyssa Ros, of Long Beach, and Xylona Gama, of Stockton, were recovered from a submerged vehicle in the Stanislaus River near Spring Creek Country Club, where they were last seen on Sunday, according to the Ripon Police Department.
Ros was 23, while her friend Gama was 22, according to CBS station KOVR.
Authorities said they received a tip from a Spring Creek employee after they spotted a vehicle submerged in a river near the southeastern part of the golf course. Members of the Ripon Police Department, along with firefighters and rescue personnel, then retrieved the car from the river on Tuesday.
"You just wish that it was a dream," Danny Ros, Alyssa's father, told KOVR after receiving the news. "I was pinching myself. I couldn't think straight."
"For a father to lose their daughter when you're supposed to go before her, it just tore me apart," he added.
Ripon police said the incident is still under investigation and it is unclear how the women ended up in the river.
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Gama's family created a donation campaign for her memorial, and remembered her as a "bright" and "funny" person who "lit up every room."
"Life will never be the same without [her]," a description on the page said.
A separate campaign for Ros' family has also raised thousands as of Friday morning.
"Alyssa was a person who saw the good in each and every one of us. Her energy radiated through all that was around her, and her heart was so genuine," a description said. "She wanted the very best for all the people she knew, and for all that was around her. She most definitely made that known through her charismatic personality."
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In a statement to PEOPLE, Steve Hupe, general manager and COO of Spring Creek Country Club, said the staff is "heartbroken and devastated" by the deaths of Ros and Gama.
"We are heartbroken and devastated by the passing of guests Xylona Gama and Alyssa Ros after an accident which occurred on our golf course, following a wedding reception on Sunday night," he said. "We wish to express our deepest condolences and our heartfelt love and support to their families and friends during this challenging time."
Both Alyssa and Gama planned to drive about 11 miles back to Modesto, where Alyssa's dad lives, after attending the party at the golf course, according to KOVR. Her father became worried when they didn't arrive and calls to their phones went straight to voicemail.
"I called every couple hours just to see if they had their phone on getting charged. No one picked up," Alyssa's dad recalled to ABC station KXTV.
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"That Monday night, I could not sleep," he continued. "I woke up every 40 minutes, on the dot almost, to call both of them. I was just hoping that they would show up, so every car that drove by, I went to go look at the window. Every car alarm that was beeping, I went to go look out the window. Every person that was walking by talking, I would go look out the window."
He said his daughter moved to Southern California to earn her business and communications degree and had dreams of opening a modeling agency, KOVR reported.
"She was outgoing, you know, beautiful, had a glowing white smile," he told KXTV.
