Four missing Indian senior citizens found dead after car crash in US

Four members of an Indian-origin family who went missing during a road trip in the United States were found dead in a car crash, officials in West Virginia confirmed, as reported by The Times of India. The group was headed to Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold in Moundsville but never arrived at their destination.

Marshall County Sheriff Mike Dougherty said the vehicle, a Toyota Camry with New York license plates, was discovered around 9:30 pm on August 2. It had crashed off a steep embankment along Big Wheeling Creek Road in Marshall County, West Virginia. The deceased have been identified as Asha Divan, Kishore Divan, Shailesh Divan, and Gita Divan.

According to the TOI report, the group was last seen on Tuesday at a Burger King on Peach Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, where two of them were captured on CCTV footage entering the building. Their final credit card transaction was also recorded there. Authorities believe the group planned to drive from Pittsburgh to Moundsville, where they had prepaid for a night's stay near the temple.


Detectives noted that none of the individuals answered calls after Tuesday. Signals from their mobile phones were recorded early Wednesday in Moundsville and Wheeling, around 3 am. A missing persons report was filed in Buffalo, New York, and search efforts intensified later in the week.

A helicopter was deployed on Friday to scan the likely travel route. After days of searching, local authorities located the vehicle in a rural area, confirming all four occupants had died in the crash. Investigations into the exact cause are ongoing.(With inputs from TOI)