- A 22-year-old Indian student was found dead in California after six days missing
- Saketh Sreenivasaiah studied Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UC Berkeley
- His body was found near Berkeley Hills, following a citywide search and community aid
A 22-year-old Indian student has been found dead in California, six days after he went missing.
Saketh Sreenivasaiah, a student from Karnataka pursuing Chemical and Biomolecular engineering at University of California Berkeley, went missing on February 9.
The Indian consulate in San Francisco confirmed that police recovered his body, while assuring all necessary assistance for the repatriation of his body to India at the earliest. "We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones during this profoundly difficult time," the statement read.
A citywide search around Lake Anza and Berkeley Hills areas was launched when Sreenivasaiah went missing after being last seen around a kilometre away from the campus. Later, a backpack, containing his passport and laptop, was found near a residence close to Tilden Regional Park, also near the campus.
Community members mobilised online to aid the search for Sreenivasaiah, with a Reddit thread discussing concerted efforts to locate him.
Sreenivasaiah, an IIT Madras alumnus, was pursuing a master's degree at Berkeley. He went to school at Bengaluru's Sri Vani Education Centre. He is described as six feet one inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds, with short black hair and brown eyes.
Sreenivasaiah was among the six to hold a patent for inventing a "microchannel cooling system for hyperloop and a method thereof", per his LinkedIn profile. He had been described as a person with a quick wit, humility, brilliance and loyalty.
In a question raised by MP Asaduddin Owaisi in the Lok Sabha about student safety abroad, the Ministry of External Affairs highlighted its efforts towards keeping Indian students safe. "Indian Missions/Posts also take steps to maintain regular contact with Indian students enrolled in foreign universities in their jurisdictions and conduct pre-orientation sessions with them upon their arrival in foreign lands to brief them on potential challenges, risks, and precautions to be taken while studying overseas, including issue of advisories from time to time," the statement read.
