The Indian Consulate in San Francisco, California, has issued an unfortunate update in the case related to an Indian student who went missing in the United States earlier this week.

Days after desperate community posts and search attempts to find 22-year-old Saketh Sreenivasaiah, the Indian Consulate confirmed the recovery of his body from a lake. He went missing around six days ago on February 9 (US time).

The boy originally hailed from the Indian state of Karnataka, as previously revealed by officials. He was pursuing a Master’s degree in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department at University of California, Berkeley, in the US after completing an undergraduate degree from IIT Madras in India.

Indian Consulate confirms missing Indian student’s death

Taking to their official X account early Sunday morning, the Consulate regretfully disclosed that local police in the US has confirmed that Saketh’s body had been recovered. Just a day earlier, the Indian authorities had revealed that they were working in collaboration with the concerned local authorities to locate the postgraduate UC Berkeley student.

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“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 official ‘India in San Francisco’ account tweeted.

Tagging the official accounts of Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal and the Indian Embassy in the US, they added, “Our consular officers are in direct contact with the family and will support them with all required formalities and services.”

Saketh Sreenivasaiah found dead in Lake Anza

Around the same time local reports, including the one shared by The Berkeley Scanner (TBS) also indicated that a days-long search involving sonar, drones and divers, had resulted in the recovering of a body from Lake Anza on Saturday afternoon (US time).

Divers with Alameda County Sheriff’s Office located the remains just after 2 pm. Despite the Indian Consulate confirming that the individual found was Saketh, the local report did not definitively name the Indian student.

However, it was revealed that Sreenivasaiah’s personal effects were found close to the lake and in the nearby Park Hills neighbourhood. The Contra Costa County coroner’s office is set to take over the case.

Indian student’s UC Berkeley roommate speaks out

Saketh’s Berkeley roommate, Baneet Singh had previously urged the community to share any information leading to the discovery of his missing friend earlier this week. Taking to LinkedIn once again after the heartbreaking news broke out, he also confirmed on social media, “My berkeley roommate, Saketh Sreenivasaiah , has been found dead by suicide in lake Anza near the Berkeley hills, according to police.”

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Baneet also shared that he was working with authorities to fly his family to the US from Indian on an emergency visa. “Life as an international student is tough, man,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “There were no signs of anything until the last 2 weeks, when he started eating less and engaging less, only surviving on chips and cookies.”

Singh further revealed that Saketh had even invited him to Lake Anza on January 21, however he was “too lazy to.” Desperately looking back at the circumstances, Baneet added, “Little did I know that would be the same place he’d take his life.”

He also reflected on the last conversation he had with the fellow Indian-origin student, saying that he had found him coming back from class with a red bathrobe on.

When he asked Sreenivasaiah why he was wearing a robe to class, Saketh replied, “I’ve stopped caring man. im cold and don’t care what anyone thinks of me,” as per the LinkedIn post.

Prior details related to the case, as indicated in a local report SFGate, showed that authorities were considering Saketh as an at-risk missing person. According to The Berkeley Scanner, Saketh appeared to have been upset about a relationship before he went missing just days ago. Consequently, a search party was initiated near Lake Anza in the Berkeley Hill, where he was last spotted.

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