A devastating discovery at the latest in the search for 22-year-old Indian student Saketh Sreenivasaiah who went missing earlier this week. On Feb. 15 in San Francisco, the Consulate General of India confirmed that local authorities had recovered Saketh’s body near the Tilden Regional Park location.
The Disappearance and Search
Saketh Sreenivasaiah (born in Tumakuru, Karnataka) was a postgraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley for a Master’s degree in the field of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He was last heard from on the 9th of February, with word from his Dad. Concerns mounted after Saketh failed to return home.
His roommates reported him missing on February 12, after searching area. The search for him escalated when his backpack—carrying his passport and laptop was discovered left on a doorstep in the Park Hills neighborhood near Lake Anza in Berkeley Hills.
Responses from the Consulate and the Government
After the report of lost persons, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco collaborated with the Berkeley Police Department and the East Bay Regional Park District. Karnataka state government also moved in, and its chief secretary, Shalini Rajneesh, wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to urgently request diplomatic support.
On Sunday morning, the Consulate said, grimly:
The Consulate regrets to report that local police have confirmed recovery of the body of missing Indian student Saketh Sreenivasaiah. We offer our heartrending condolences to his family and friends right now during this tremendously challenging situation.”
The Consulate has confirmed to the bereaved family that they are in cooperation with local authorities to enable the repatriation of Saketh's mortal remains to India on an expeditious basis. Academic Career Cut Short, Bright at the End. Saketh was a high achiever with an excellent academic records. An alumnus of IIT Madras, he successfully graduated in 2025 with a degree in Chemical Engineering before relocating to the US.
On his LinkedIn account, he described a passion for deep-tech and advanced materials. While Berkeley Police Department had classified him in the past as an "at-risk" missing person, the specific details about his death have not yet been brought to light. Local media reports said he seemed “upset about a relationship” when he left campus but no cause of his death has been published so far. The loss of such a gifted young scholar has drawn shock in the Indian diaspora and among the student body of the UC Berkeley community.
