Four senior citizens of an Indian-origin family, who had gone missing during a road trip in the United States five days ago, were found dead on Sunday in what authorities described as a tragic car crash. According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, all four — aged in their 80s — died after their vehicle veered off a steep embankment along Big Wheeling Creek Road.
The crash site was so remote that rescue teams took more than five hours to reach it. Sheriff Mike Dougherty offered condolences to the bereaved family, adding that the cause of the accident is still under investigation.
The victims were identified as Dr Kishore Divan (89), Asha Divan (85), Shailesh Divan (86), and Gita Divan (84). The family was last seen on July 29 at a Burger King outlet on Peach Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. Their final credit card transaction also took place there.
They were travelling to the Palace of Gold in Marshall County — a well-known religious site built by disciples of Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON. The group had planned to stay overnight at the Palace of Gold on July 29, but according to local media reports, they never checked in.
Their car, a light green Toyota Camry with New York licence plates (EKW2611), was later discovered wrecked at the crash site. In the days following their disappearance, police and rescue teams had used helicopters and other resources in an intensive search effort. Cell tower data had last detected signals from their phones around 3 am on Wednesday in Moundsville.
The case drew attention, echoing other recent incidents involving missing Indian nationals in the US. Just last month, a 24-year-old Indian woman named Simran reportedly went missing shortly after arriving in New Jersey for an arranged marriage. Investigators suggested she might not have planned to marry and could have used the opportunity as a way to travel to America.