A nearly blind Rohingya refugee who US Border Patrol agents dropped off at a doughnut shop in New York City on Thursday and left to find his way home, kilometres away, has been found dead.

The body of 56-year-old Nurul Amin Shah Alam, was located by police officers in the city in upstate New York on Tuesday evening, a Buffalo Police Department spokesperson said.

Who was Nurul Amin Shah Alam?

Alam had been missing since February 19 following his release from a county jail. Alam had been in the Erie County Holding Center since February 2025 after being arrested by Buffalo police.

Alam’s son, Faisal, said the family were Rohingya refugees from Arakan state, officially known as Rakhine state, in Myanmar, and that his father could not read, write or use electronic devices.

He said his father’s arrest a year ago was due to a misunderstanding after police were called when Alam wandered onto private property, while carrying a curtain rod he had purchased as a walking stick due to his impaired vision.

Alam hadn’t understood when police, speaking in English, told him to drop the curtain rod, and he was held in jail for close to one year, before being released following a misdemeanour plea deal, Faisal said.

In a statement to Investigative Post, a Buffalo-based news outlet, a US Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson said agents finally dropped Alam off at a coffee shop after his months-long detention after it was determined that he couldn’t be deported as he had entered the US as a refugee.

How did Alam die?

The Erie County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and determined Shah Alam’s cause of death was health‑related. Exposure and homicide have been ruled out, Buffalo city spokesperson Nick Beiling said.

“A vulnerable man – nearly blind and unable to speak English – was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location. That decision from US Customs and Border Protection was unprofessional and inhumane,” Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said Wednesday, calling Shah Alam’s death “preventable,” and insisting CBP “answer for how and why this happened.”

CBP issues statement

Defending their actions, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a statement said, Border Patrol agents had offered Alam a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, near his last known address. “He showed no signs of distress, mobility issues or disabilities requiring special assistance,” CBP said.