New Delhi:

Before learning of the multi-level car crash that killed his daughter Dharshini Vasudevan, a desperate father had tagged External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar in a social media post, requesting the government’s help in locating her.

In the post, Chennai-based Mr Vasudevan said his daughter had been in the US for the past three years and lived at Frisco in Texas. She completed her MS studies a year back and was working for the past year, he wrote.

@DrSJaishankar Dear Sir, My daughter Dharshini Vasudevan holding Indian passport No-T6215559 have been in USA for the last 3 years, 2 years of MS studies and later 1 year of Employment and stays 3150 Avenue of the stars Apt 1110-Frisco,Texas-75034.

— Vasudevan (@VasuV1970) August 31, 2024

“Yesterday evening she took a car pooling along with 3 others around 3pm till 4pm she was actively messaging and reachable on phone after 4pm no further contacts could be established with her as well other 3 people who were travelling with her,” he said in the post.

NDTV cannot verify the authenticity of the post on X. 

“The travel was from Frisco to Bentonville (her uncle home) since it’s a long weekend she pre booked for the travel. We parents are really worried and it’s almost 12 hours we don’t the status of our daughter. Please help,” the post stated.

The travel was from Frisco to Bentonville (her uncle home) since it’s a long weekend she pre booked for the travel. We parents are really worried and it’s almost 12 hours we don’t the status of our daughter. Please help

— Vasudevan (@VasuV1970) August 31, 2024

Dharshini Vasudevan is among four Indian nationals killed in a multi-car crash in Texas. The four, also comprising Aryan Raghunath Orampati, Farooq Shaik and Lokesh Palacharla had connected through a carpooling app and were travelling to Bentonville in Arkansas. While Dharshini was on her way to meet her uncle, Orampati and Shaik were returning from Texas to their homes in Bentonville. Lokesh Palacharla was going to Bentonville to meet his wife. The authorities managed to identify them through the carpooling app they had used.

According to reports, a speeding truck rear-ended the SUV the victims were in. The car burst into flames and all the occupants burnt to death. The authorities are now relying on DNA fingerprinting and teeth and bone remains to confirm the identities. “DNA fingerprinting will be done to identify the bodies, and the samples will be matched with the parents,” a local authority said.

Representative image. A teenage boy robbed a convenience store and killed Mainank Patel
| Photo Credit: AP

A 36-year-old Indian-origin man has been shot and killed after a teenage boy robbed a convenience store in the U.S. state of North Carolina, authorities said.

Mainank Patel, the owner of the Tobacco House store at 2580 Airport Road, died after the shooting on Tuesday (August 13, 2024) morning, the Salisbury Post reported.

A juvenile male is in custody for the crime, according to Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. Because the young man is a juvenile, deputies are not able to release his name.

The juvenile was arrested Tuesday (August 13, 2024) evening but no additional details have been released.

Deputies initially responded to the Tobacco House convenience store in response to a 911 hang-up call, said Captain Mark McDaniel, public information officer for the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.

While they were en route to the location, communications were received that there had been a shooting. When the deputies arrived on scene they found Patel suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, said McDaniel.

The victim was taken to Novant Health Rowan Medical Center and then transported to Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, where he died as a result of his injuries, the report added.

A security video showed a tall, slender white male running across the store parking lot away from the building. He was wearing black shorts, a black hoodie, a black ski mask and white Nike tennis shoes with burgundy logos, and appeared to have a black handgun in his hand, said Mr. McDaniel.

Mr. McDaniel said that the sheriff’s office is not certain of the motive in the shooting, but that it currently appears to have been a robbery. No one else was injured.

Patel leaves behind his seven-and-a-half-month pregnant wife, Ms. Ami, and their 5-year-old daughter.

Customers and workers say Mr. Patel would help anyone and the community is in mourning over his death.

“It hit everybody because this was a family, this was a community family store,” said Ann Ellis, a customer.

Javier Lopez has been cutting the grass at the store for years, even before Mr. Patel took over from his cousin, Mr. Lopez said, and the Patel family “treated everyone like family.

“There are just no words to describe how great a guy Mike was,” he continued.

“He was a super good man, good to his customers, loved his family and would have helped anyone,” said Patricia Howard, another regular customer at the store.