LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue grad scholar Anik Paul stepped off the John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge within the wee hours of July 3, 2023, and aside from the primary officers who noticed him flailing within the river after his leap, he is not been seen since.
After months of looking out the Wabash River from Attica to the pedestrian bridge, nobody has discovered Paul’s physique.
In his 18 years as an Indiana conservation officer, Lt. Blaine Gillam can recall solely two incidents during which a sufferer’s physique has not been recovered from a river or lake.
The primary was 4-year-old Owen Jones, who drowned in Deer Creek on Might 23, 2019, when he was swept away by the robust present after heavy rains. Owen’s physique was by no means discovered regardless of a search that continued your entire summer time.
The opposite is Paul, who leaped from the bridge simply earlier than 3 a.m.
“It is by no means a very good feeling once we get a report of somebody within the water,” Gillam mentioned, noting they need to rescue the individual or no less than discover recuperate the lacking individual’s stays.
“That weighs on us, too,” he mentioned about not discovering drowning victims’ our bodies.
“Rivers are completely different,” Gillam mentioned about water rescue and restoration efforts combating the currents, the particles and obstacles that may be a hazard to divers. “It is tougher to get divers right into a shifting physique of water.”
West Lafayette police detective Lt. Jon Keen mentioned they’ve investigated each lead they’ve uncovered and nonetheless do not know the place Paul is or what prompted him to leap.
Police know Paul was 31, from Bangladesh and a graduate scholar at Purdue. He messaged his buddy about 2:40 a.m. July 3, 2023, saying the water wasn’t deep sufficient.
Extra: The last known communications from missing Purdue student
The buddy discovered the message disturbing and referred to as police out of concern, police mentioned final 12 months. Paul’s message didn’t specify what physique of water wasn’t deep sufficient, so officers started looking out our bodies of water within the West Lafayette and Lafayette space.
One officer was close to the Celery Bathroom when the decision got here in, and he searched the lavatory. Then he headed towards Tapawingo Park, arriving at 2:50 a.m., Keen mentioned final 12 months. That officer heard somebody within the water and noticed splashing between the John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge and the South Road bridge.
That man flailing within the river shrouded by darkness was the final glimpse of Paul by one other individual.
Paul’s household’s yearlong wrestle with out him
“Nonetheless now we don’t have any clear concept behind the explanation of Anik’s disappearance from (the) bridge,” Anik’s sister, Bithi Paul, wrote in an e-mail Wednesday to the Journal & Courier. “Police can not give us any details about my brother after that incident.”
Police have no extra details about Anik after he jumped, Keen mentioned a number of occasions throughout interviews with the J&C during the last 12 months.
“We have no motive to consider he is alive primarily based on all of the proof we now have,” Keen mentioned final week.
Anik’s obvious loss of life leaves his household in Bangladesh emotionally and financially devastated, Bithi Paul mentioned in her e-mail.
“My mother and father are nonetheless alive for him again and ready for his or her son,” wrote Bithi, who is just not fairly fluent in English. “And I’m battling all points together with monetary downside as a result of Anik was accountable for household monetary helps.”
Formally a lacking individual
Keen famous that they proceed to attempt to get DNA from Anik’s household in order that if or when his stays are found, investigators can positively determine them.
Gillam famous that conservation officers typically get calls about bones found in or close to rivers, they usually have consultants decide whether or not the bones are human or animal.
Having DNA on file shall be useful if Anik’s stays are discovered, Keen mentioned.
Gillam encourages water security
“We clearly encourage carrying a life jacket,” Gillam mentioned about individuals taking part in within the water.
Even people who find themselves aware of the creek, river or lake could be caught without warning by one thing surprising, he mentioned.
“By the point you understand it, it is swept you away,” Gillam mentioned.
Owen Jones, the 4-year-old, is a chief instance of how a life jacket may need spared his life by holding him afloat within the swift present.
Paul’s intentions for leaping into the river, nonetheless, seem to replicate a private wrestle versus leisure swimming.
Folks with ideas of harming themselves might name or textual content 988, a 24/7 lifeline quantity that connects the individual to psychological well being professionals.
Attain Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Comply with on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This text initially appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue student from Bangladesh who jumped from bridge presumed dead
