’Texted mother hours before tragedy...’: Techie from Maharashtra drowns in US Glacier National Park

A 26-year-old IT professional from India's Maharashtra drowned in the famous Glacier National Park in the US state of Montana while on vacation with friends, according to park authorities. He worked in California.

According to the statement of National Park Service, the victim has been identified as Siddhant Vitthal Patil.

Patil, a technology professional, was reportedly hiking above the gorge on June 6 on Avalanche Lake Trail, where he fell off a large rock into the Avalanche Creek.

It is not clear if Patil slipped on a wet portion of the rock or lost his balance.

Friends who were with him saw Patil go underwater and resurface before being swept up by the current into the gorge.

According to the statement, Patil's body has not been found, but he has been presumed dead. “Helicopters conducted aerial searches, but officials suspected the body was being held down.”

Rangers suspect that the body is being held down by submerged obstacles such as fallen trees or rocks.

Rangers are continuously monitoring the area and have begun recovering personal items that have washed downstream.

The water in the gorge is unsearchable due to its depth and turbulence, creating whitewater conditions. Rangers flew a drone to try and determine the location of the body, but the effort was unsuccessful. Ground search efforts continue from the gorge to the bridge on Trail of the Cedars.

Patil lived and worked in California and was on vacation with friends.

He texted his mother two hours before the tragic incident, telling her that he would be returning to San Jose, where he worked with Cadence Design Systems, in another three days.

His friends got his iPhone IMEI numbers from the phone box in his room and gave them to the Park rangers in Montana and other authorities to help in the search work, Chaudhari said. This hasn't yielded results yet, his maternal uncle Pritesh Chaudhari, who is based in Pune, told PTI.

His mother Priti and father Vitthal, who retired from the Maharashtra government's irrigation department in May, are in shock and not in a position to speak, Chaudhari said.

Patil went to the US in 2020 to do his MS from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He joined Cadence in 2023.

(With PTI inputs)