San Francisco Consulate confirms death of missing Karnataka student

Bengaluru: The week-long search for a 22-year-old postgraduate student from Bengaluru ended in tragedy as local police in California recovered his body from Lake Anza on Saturday afternoon. Saketh Sreenivasaiah, a Master’s student at the University of California, Berkeley, had been missing since February 9.

The Consulate General of India in San Francisco confirmed the recovery of the body, expressing "deep regret" and extending condolences to the family. "The Consulate stands ready to provide all necessary assistance to the family, including coordination with local authorities and arrangements for the repatriation of mortal remains to India at the earliest," the mission stated on X social media platform.

Signs of distress

Saketh, an alumnus of IIT-Madras and a native of Srigandada Kaval in west Bengaluru, was pursuing a degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. According to his roommate, Baneet Singh, the young student had shown signs of severe mental distress in the weeks leading up to his disappearance.

In a social media post, Singh recalled Saketh's growing withdrawal from daily life. "There were no signs of anything until the last two weeks, when he started eating less and engaging less, only surviving on chips and cookies," Singh wrote. He shared a haunting final conversation where he found Saketh returning from class wearing a red bathrobe. When questioned, Saketh reportedly replied, "I’ve stopped caring, man. I’m cold and don’t care what anyone thinks of me. I don’t care about anything."

Search and recovery

The alarm was first raised after Saketh’s backpack, containing his passport and laptop, was found abandoned on a doorstep in the Park Hills neighbourhood near Tilden Regional Park. Following this, the Berkeley Police Department, along with sonar teams and divers from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, launched an intensive search operation at Lake Anza.

Divers located the body just after 2 pm on Saturday. While a formal autopsy report from the Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office is awaited.

State government intervention

Earlier this week, Saketh’s father, Sreenivasaiah, had approached the state government seeking intervention. In response, Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh had written to the Ministry of External Affairs, urging diplomatic support to trace the student.

The Consulate is currently in direct contact with the bereaved family to facilitate emergency visas for travel to the United States and the eventual return of the remains to Bengaluru.