Berkeley mourns UC Berkeley grad student Saketh Sreenivasaiah, IIT Madras alum found in Lake Anza
The South Asian community around UC Berkeley is mourning Saketh Sreenivasaiah, a 22-year-old master's student from Karnataka whose body was recovered from Lake Anza at Tilden Regional Park on February 14. The IIT Madras alumnus, enrolled in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering program at Berkeley, had been reported missing on February 12. The Consulate General of India in San Francisco, Berkeley Police and East Bay Regional Park District coordinated the search with help from students, roommates and the wider desi community.
🤝 San Francisco consulate coordinates with Berkeley police as search enters fifth day
The Consulate General of India in San Francisco publicly expressed deep concern over the disappearance of Saketh Sreenivasaiah, a 22-year-old postgraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, hailing from Karnataka, and said it was in contact with both his family in India and local authorities in the East Bay as search operations continued. Berkeley Police confirmed the student was last seen on Tuesday in the 1700 block of Dwight Way near McGee Avenue and that a search was underway near Lake Anza in Tilden Regional Park. Investigators said Sreenivasaiah had reportedly been upset about a relationship at the time, and that a backpack containing his passport and laptop had been found on a doorstep in the Park Hills neighbourhood next to Tilden. The Berkeley Police Department said it was coordinating with the East Bay Regional Park District on the search and asked community members with any information to come forward. Officers described him as six feet one inch tall, weighing about 160 pounds, with short black hair and brown eyes, and identified him as Indian. Sreenivasaiah, according to his LinkedIn profile, had been pursuing a master's degree in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department at UC Berkeley after earlier undergraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology. [3]
IIT Madras alumnus was days away from midterms when he vanished a kilometre from campus
Saketh Sreenivasaiah was in the middle of his master's degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley when he disappeared, drawing headlines back home in Karnataka and prompting formal intervention by the Consulate General of India in San Francisco. According to the report, the 22-year-old was last seen on February 10 about a kilometre from campus, and by Saturday the search had entered its fifth day with no sign of him. The Consulate confirmed in a statement on X that it was in touch with his family and with concerned local authorities in the United States to help locate him. Sreenivasaiah's academic trail was that of a high-achieving Indian STEM student typical of the pipeline into UC Berkeley's engineering programs — an undergraduate at an Indian Institute of Technology followed by a competitive graduate placement in the Bay Area. Coverage from India carried extensive detail on the missing-persons alert issued by Berkeley Police, including his last known location and physical description, and highlighted the growing anxiety among Indian students studying in California, who have seen several tragic cases in recent months. Community organisations and the consulate urged anyone in the Berkeley area with information to contact local law enforcement immediately. [7]
Roommate remembers a friend who withdrew in his final weeks
Saketh Sreenivasaiah, the 22-year-old Indian international student pursuing his master's at UC Berkeley, was found dead in Lake Anza at Tilden Regional Park on February 14, six days after he was last seen. A native of Karnataka, he had completed his undergraduate degree at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras before enrolling in the chemical and biomolecular engineering master's program at Berkeley. Alameda County Sheriff's Office dive teams recovered his body from the lake, about a 12-minute drive from campus, and the Contra Costa County Coroner's Office confirmed his identity on February 16. Authorities said he had been distressed over a relationship at the time of his disappearance. His roommate Baneet Singh wrote on LinkedIn that in the two weeks before he went missing, Sreenivasaiah had started eating less and engaging less, surviving mostly on chips and cookies — warning signs he now feels he missed. Singh recalled a final exchange in which Sreenivasaiah came home from class in a red bathrobe and said he had stopped caring what anyone thought. Singh reflected that the opposite of life was not death but indifference, and said he is now working with authorities to help bring Sreenivasaiah's family to the United States on an emergency visa. [5]
Community mobilises on Reddit and social media as consulate coordinates repatriation
A 22-year-old Indian student from Karnataka has been found dead in California, six days after he went missing near the University of California, Berkeley, according to breaking coverage from Diya TV. Saketh Sreenivasaiah, pursuing a master's degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UC Berkeley, went missing on February 9 after last being seen about a kilometre from campus in the area around Lake Anza and the Berkeley Hills. Local authorities launched a search in and around Lake Anza and Tilden Regional Park, during which a backpack containing his passport and laptop was reportedly found near a residence close to the park. The Consulate General of India in San Francisco confirmed that police had recovered his body and posted that it deeply regretted having to inform the community, extending condolences to his family. The consulate said it was coordinating with local authorities and would assist the family with formalities, including arrangements to repatriate his remains to India at the earliest, with consular officers in direct contact with the family in Karnataka. Before confirmation of his death, students and community members had mobilised on a dedicated Reddit thread and across social media, sharing his photograph and asking Berkeley-area residents to report any sightings. Sreenivasaiah was an alumnus of IIT Madras and had earlier studied at Sri Vani Education Centre in Bengaluru. [8]
Sources: [3] Gulf News · [7] WION · [5] nextshark.com · [8] Diya TV