'I’ve stopped caring': Disturbing words of Indian student days before his death in US

Sreenivasaiah, who was enrolled in a Product Development Programme at the University of California, was last seen near Lake Anza in Tilden Regional Park. He had been missing for six days before his body was discovered.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Sreenivasaiah’s roommate, Baneet Singh, said he had noticed changes in his behaviour in the two weeks prior to his disappearance.

In a LinkedIn post that is no longer visible, Singh wrote that Sreenivasaiah had been “eating less and engaging less, only surviving on chips and cookies” during that period.

Singh also recalled seeing him attend a class wearing a bathrobe. When asked about it, Sreenivasaiah reportedly said, “I've stopped caring, man. I'm cold and don't care what anyone thinks of me. I don't care about anything.”

Singh later expressed regret for not recognising the seriousness of his friend’s remarks, saying he had initially dismissed them as his usual silliness.

“He was always up to something silly. Now I know that he really meant it. The opposite of life was never death. It was indifference. To stop caring, which led to him not caring for his own life, either,” Singh said.

Sreenivasaiah was reported missing on February 9, 2026, prompting a large-scale search operation in the Berkeley Hills and Lake Anza area.

Police later recovered his body, and the death was confirmed by the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.

His backpack, containing his passport and laptop, had earlier been found near Tilden Regional Park.

Authorities have not yet disclosed the exact cause of death, and investigations are ongoing. The Indian Consulate said it is assisting the family with formalities and the repatriation of the body.