22-year-old Indian student found dead in California; what were his last words to roommate?

A 22-year-old Indian student who went missing in the United States six days ago was found dead in California, police said, with his roommate revealing that the student had expressed indifference toward life shortly before his disappearance.

Saketh Sreenivasaiah, a postgraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, went missing on February 9. His body was recovered from Lake Anza on Saturday afternoon, local time.

His roommate, Baneet Singh, said in a LinkedIn post that police informed him the death was being treated as a suicide. He described the incident as having left the campus community “shocked to the core."

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Singh said Saketh had shown signs of withdrawal in the weeks leading up to his disappearance, including eating less and disengaging socially.

“There were no clear signs until the last two weeks, when he started eating less and engaging less," Singh wrote.

His last words to the roommate

Recalling their last conversation, Singh said Saketh returned from class wearing a red bathrobe, prompting a casual remark.

In response, Saketh said he had stopped caring about how others perceived him. “I don’t care about anything," he told his roommate, a comment Singh said he did not fully understand at the time.

Singh added that he is coordinating with authorities to help Saketh’s family travel from India to the US on emergency visas.

Police have not released further details on the circumstances surrounding the death.