A chilling video of the last hours of his life led a friend to find the body of an American travel blogger hanging from a tree near Avalahalli lake in Hoskote.

The highly decomposed body of 45-year-old G Scott Taulbee was found on February 14. The native of New York was a resident of Indiranagar. An avid travel blogger, he documented his experiences in India and uploaded them on social media, police said.

Taulbee’s friend Saravanan Ganesh started searching for him on February 10, the day he went missing. He also filed a missing complaint with the district police. Later, he stumbled on Taulbee’s suicide video.

In the video recorded by a headgear-mounted camera, Taulbee rides a bike from Indiranagar to Avalahalli lake via KR Puram bridge. On reaching the spot, he turns the camera around to shoot a selfie video, where he speaks about his decision to take the extreme step.

Ganesh followed the location on his Instagram to reach the spot near Avalahalli lake, where he saw Taulbee hanging from a tree. He then informed the police who rushed to the spot and took the body to a government hospital for a post-mortem. The police recovered the bike, helmet and other gadgets on his person.

The United States Embassy in Chennai was informed and, with the help of Ganesh, police reached the family members of Taulbee in New York.

Since the body was highly decomposed, the family decided to have Taulbee cremated in India and communicated their consent to the city. The police obtained a No-Objection-Certificate (NOC) from the Embassy and handed over Taulbee’s body to Ganesh for the final rites.

Ganesh, in his complaint to the police, said Taulbee was battling depression. He had uploaded on YouTube the video in which he speaks about the dejection he suffered in his life. The video was taken off later, following a request from his relatives.

In a caption that accompanies the video, Taulbee thanks the people who walked with him on the “rocky path”. "I would like to thank you for accompanying me along this trail," he says.

“Taulbee had documented his long walk before he reached the spot to commit suicide. In the video of more than 15 minutes, he talks about the roles he played in life as a son, brother, husband, and a father in his life. He also practised several times how to hang himself. His narrative and description show maturity,” said Ningappa B Sakri, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Hoskote.

The Avalahalli police have registered a case of unnatural death.