Dey’s parents in India hope against hope.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Months after a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student from India, who was pursuing a doctoral program in biological sciences, disappeared, her family is still hoping a miracle will return her to them.
Anwesha Dey’s parents, who live in India, refuse to accept that the 30-year-old drowned, Dey’s cousin Saunak De told the Lincoln Journal Star.
“We’re still waiting in the hope that she is still alive,” 31-year-old Saunak De said in a telephone interview from India.
According to Omaha.com, police reported Dey was last seen on May 3 when she left a friend’s house near 23rd and S Streets en route to UNL’s downtown campus to grade student papers.
Police Chief Jim Peschong previously informed the Nebraska News Network that a local business provided surveillance footage that shows the Indian doctorate student of biological sciences falling into Antelope Creek, where she was swept away in the night.
“The video shows her struggling in the water as she’s attempting to regain her footing and trying to get to the shore, although the water seemed to be moving too fast and it appears as though it carried her away,” Peschong told reporters during a public press conference.
The only thing that will bring her family closure is finding the body, said Dey’s cousin, who refers to her as a sister.
As time passes, the search effort will rely more on trained cadaver dogs to pick up the scent of human remains, which can linger for months, said DJ Ginsberg, the United States ATV Search and Rescue Team’s executive director. Next week, they’ll use a camera-equipped drone again to scan places where they can’t get close to the creek, he said.
De said even if searchers find Dey’s clothes, her relatives likely won’t believe she is dead. Neither he nor Dey’s parents have watched the video of her fall.
“We believe in God and in miracles. They pray to God. That is the only thing we can do,” he said.
Read the earlier story on Dey: http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2015/05/18/police-in-nebraska-give-up-search-for-indian-american-student-anwesha-dey-who-went-missing-on-may-3/