Indian techie Siddhant Vitthal Patil is presumed dead after drowning in Glacier National Park, USA. His family shared that he had texted his mother from the park hours before the tragedy.
“Last Friday, Siddhant called his mother Priti from the park and told her that he had been there for three days with six other Indian friends and was enjoying the trip,” his maternal uncle Pritesh Chaudhari told PTI.
Siddhant, 26, also texted his mother two hours before the incident, saying he would be returning to San Jose, where he worked with Cadence Design Systems, in three days.
His friends provided his iPhone’s IMEI numbers to park rangers and other authorities to aid the search. However, this has not yielded any results so far.
Siddhant’s parents, Priti and Vitthal, who retired from Maharashtra’s irrigation department in May, are in shock and unable to speak, Chaudhari said.
“Suresh Sharma from the Indian consulate in Seattle called me after the incident, as Siddhant had given my number as a contact to the US authorities,” Chaudhari added. He has been in touch with the consulate since Monday.
Leaders from Maharashtra, including Sharad Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis, have requested the government’s help. Union minister Murlidhar Mohol, from Pune, is in touch with external affairs minister S Jaishankar for updates on the search operation.
Siddhant went to the US in 2020 to pursue his MS from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He joined Cadence in 2023.
Despite aerial searches by helicopters, Siddhant’s body has not been located. Officials suspect the body may be trapped by submerged obstacles like fallen trees and rocks. Rangers are continuously monitoring the area and have started recovering personal items that have washed downstream.
A drone was flown to locate the body, but the effort was unsuccessful. Siddhant is presumed dead by authorities.
“Last Friday, Siddhant called his mother Priti from the park and told her that he had been there for three days with six other Indian friends and was enjoying the trip,” his maternal uncle Pritesh Chaudhari told PTI.
Siddhant, 26, also texted his mother two hours before the incident, saying he would be returning to San Jose, where he worked with Cadence Design Systems, in three days.
His friends provided his iPhone’s IMEI numbers to park rangers and other authorities to aid the search. However, this has not yielded any results so far.
Siddhant’s parents, Priti and Vitthal, who retired from Maharashtra’s irrigation department in May, are in shock and unable to speak, Chaudhari said.
“Suresh Sharma from the Indian consulate in Seattle called me after the incident, as Siddhant had given my number as a contact to the US authorities,” Chaudhari added. He has been in touch with the consulate since Monday.
Leaders from Maharashtra, including Sharad Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis, have requested the government’s help. Union minister Murlidhar Mohol, from Pune, is in touch with external affairs minister S Jaishankar for updates on the search operation.
Siddhant went to the US in 2020 to pursue his MS from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He joined Cadence in 2023.
Despite aerial searches by helicopters, Siddhant’s body has not been located. Officials suspect the body may be trapped by submerged obstacles like fallen trees and rocks. Rangers are continuously monitoring the area and have started recovering personal items that have washed downstream.
A drone was flown to locate the body, but the effort was unsuccessful. Siddhant is presumed dead by authorities.
