Sophomore at Southern Illinois Univ. missing.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Pravin M. Varughese, a 19 year-old Indian-origin student at Southern Illinois University (SIU), has been missing for nearly a week and a $15,000 reward is now being offered up for information that leads to finding him.
Varughese went missing sometime late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, and was last seen at a party on West College Street in Carbondale, where SIU is located. Varughese was at the party at 11:00 PM, according to witnesses, and his Twitter account shows that he posted at 11:06 PM and 11:17 PM, saying “99% of the time I have no idea whats [sic] going on” and “Bloody knuckles . . .guess I was in a fight #backdown,” respectively.
UPDATE: Pravin Varughese found dead, circumstance surrounding death remain unclear
A friend said Varughese called him at around 12:30 AM, telling investigators that he sounded like he was running and out of breath, or had perhaps been in a physical altercation of some kind. But on Thursday, Varughese never returned to his townhouse, located off-campus and shared with two other roommates: Varughese’s cousin and another friend of theirs. Shortly thereafter, Varughese’s 20 year-old sister Priya reported her brother as missing.
His family has raised their initial $5,000 reward to $15,000 and offered it to anyone who can lead them to Pravin, while the local authorities have also offered an additional $1,000. An online petition has been launched via Facebook to raise awareness of Varughese, get his picture out in the open, ask for donations for reward money, and collect information regarding his possible whereabouts. The Facebook page already has more than 4,100 Likes.
Varughese is described as an outgoing, reasonably nice young man, and there are no indications that he had any enemies that would have harmed him. He is a sophomore at SIU pursuing a degree in criminal justice. Numerous searches of the SIU campus and surrounding area have been organized by the local community, with Varughese’s family having also come to town to help in the search efforts.
He is 5’7”, about 150 pounds, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a red Express-brand t-shirt, dark jeans, purple shoes, and was unshaven. He also has a chest tattoo that says “Fear God,” and has stud earrings. More information and photos can be found in the missing person flyer at the top of this story.
[This story was updated on 2/17/14.]