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The family of a missing Arizona State University student, who disappeared just a week shy of completing his master’s degree, is appealing for assistance. They are eager to connect with the individual who discovered his backpack at the Grand Canyon.
According to Fox News, 26-year-old Sandrash Krishna informed his relatives on April 27 that he intended to visit the Grand Canyon’s South Rim en route to Las Vegas. He planned to return in time for his final exams and graduation ceremony on May 9.
Unfortunately, Krishna has not been seen or heard from since, leaving his family in a heart-wrenching search for answers.
In their quest for information, Krishna’s family has repeatedly visited the South Rim over the past week. They are guided by cellphone tower data indicating Krishna’s last recorded location was between the Bright Angel Lodge and Mohave Point on the day he vanished.
A Brother’s Hope
Since that day, his phone has remained stationary, prompting his family to search the area extensively, as his sister-in-law, Pooja Shivananjappa, shared with AZFamily. They have combed the region two to three times in hopes of finding him.
‘We obviously don’t want to give up, so we have taken our binoculars, we have walked the trail, we have done our own research.’
The family has even hired their own private investigator to help find Krishna, as his brother, Adarsh Krishna, said they ‘don’t want to believe he’s hurt’ and still have hope ‘that he’s somewhere out there.
‘But again, we need proper closure. We don’t know exactly what happened to him,’ Adarsh told KPNX, adding that his brother is ‘not the kind of kid who would hurt himself.’
Krishna had moved to Arizona from India in 2024 to pursue a master’s degree in computer science at Arizona State University.
His loved ones describe him as bright, kind and deeply family-oriented.
‘He has a helping hand,’ Shivananjappa said. ‘As I said, he has the heart of a kid, and we terribly miss him.’
A Vital Lead
Family members and park officials are now looking to speak with a good Samaritan who brought Krishna’s backpack to the Bright Angel Lodge lost and found at around 7am on April 27.
The man did not leave his name or indicate where he found the backpack, but authorities stress they do not believe he is a suspect in Krishna’s disappearance.
Authorities are instead looking to speak with him to get more details about where and how he found the backpack, in hopes that he could provide them with more details about what led up to Krishna’s disappearance.
‘This is the whole reason why we are calling, and we are reaching out to everybody to find the person who returned the backpack,’ Shivananjappa said.
‘This is a main piece of evidence as of now. If we can get to know the exact location of the backpack, we can focus on searching that specific area.’
In the meantime, search efforts have ramped up across the South Rim, with more than 30 search and rescue personnel deployed over the past several days.
Technical Infiltration
Crews are using a myriad of techniques to try to find Krishna, including trail scanning, walk-down routes into the canyon, technical rope insertions, aerial reconnaissance flights and drone operations, park officials have said.
Rangers are specifically focusing on an area along Hermit Road.
Krishna was last seen wearing black pants, a white hoodie and black and white Jordans.
He is described as 5-foot-10-inches with a thin build, weighing approximately 160 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
He may have been using a rideshare or taxi service at the time of his disappearance.
Anyone with information about Krishna’s whereabouts or information about the good Samaritan who turned in his backpack is asked to call the tip line at (888) 653 – 0009.
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