Overview
- Searchers recovered Vikram Mubayi’s body in the Big Pine Lakes area of Inyo National Forest on Monday, Aug. 3, after his family reported him missing when contact stopped during a hike.
- Mubayi last spoke with family at about 8:30–8:37 p.m. on Aug. 1 and sent GPS coordinates from near Agassiz Col before communications ceased, notes the family’s public Reddit plea.
- The multi-agency search included Inyo County Search and Rescue and the California Highway Patrol and was guided in part by the coordinates the family posted online; his vehicle remained at the trailhead.
- Authorities have said there is currently no indication of foul play but have not publicly released a cause or manner of death and investigators say the case remains open pending autopsy results.
- Mubayi was a fifth-year chemical engineering PhD candidate at UC Santa Barbara who researched biological methods to break down plant waste and plastics and served as a teaching assistant, and his loss has drawn attention from his university community and media serving Indian-origin audiences.