WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Anik Paul’s family waits half-a-world away in Bangladesh for his phone call that likely will never come.
A little more than a month ago — early July 3 — Anik Paul, a 31-year-old doctoral student from Bangladesh, climbed over the railing of the John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge and leaped into the Wabash River.
“My mother is still waiting to have a phone call from her son Anik,” Bithi Paul, Anik’s sister, wrote in an email to the Journal & Courier. “My family is destroyed without him. We are feeling very helpless from far away.”
Her parents wrestle with despair while trying to come to terms with the likelihood of losing a son but not understanding how or why — if he is dead — that his body has not be found.
“You want to give people answers,” West Lafayette police Lt. Jon Eager said. “We’re still working, trying to get answers for a family that’s grieving.”
In today’s world of instant communication and connectivity, it’s difficult to fathom how someone can jump from a bridge and vanish.
Anik’s whereabouts before he jumped into the river
There are clues to Anik’s whereabouts before he jumped from the bridge, Eager said.
The night of July 2, Anik was in or near the laboratories on campus, where one might expect a doctorial student to frequent, Eager said of their investigation.
After Anik left the lab, Purdue police got a request to check on Anik to make sure he was OK, Eager said. The call for a welfare check does not appear on Purdue police’s publicly published police logs.
Purdue police did not find Anik and West Lafayette police joined in the search for him in the early hours of July 3, Eager said.
A West Lafayette police officer saw Anik on the pedestrian bridge about 2:30 a.m. July, and surveillance cameras on the bridge recorded video of Anik jumping over the railing. The police bulletins indicated the West Lafayette police officer saw someone in the river.
That officer who saw someone in the river likely is the last person to see Anik.
The search
Eager explained people might not understand the intensity of the search.
Starting at 2:35 a.m. July 3, police, firefighters, conservation officers, police dogs, dogs to detect live people and dogs trained to detect dead bodies all converged at the river.
They flew drones up and down the river looking for Anik, Eager said. The drones are equipped with thermal imaging cameras and infrared cameras, Eager said.
They searched the river on boats that day starting at 2:25 a.m. until after 2 p.m. before calling it a day. They were back out at the scene every day that week, according to Eager.
Divers searched under the water using sonar and submersible cameras, Eager said. The muddy river bottom obstructed the view from the cameras, but they continued to search.
Dogs trained to detect bodies indicated that there might be someone under the log jam at the base of the bridge pilings on the east side of the Columbia Street bridge, Eager said last month.
Members of the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office dive team removed some of the logs and dove under the log jam, Eager said.
Efforts to finding Anik continue to come up short.
Still, conservation officers continue to traverse the river between the pedestrian bridge and Attica looking for him, Eager said.
An intense search does not guarantee a successful recovery
On May 23, 2019, 4-year-old Owen Jones waded into the Deer Creek in Delphi and got swept away.
Despite intense searches that summer, Owen’s body never has been recovered.
More:Officers search for 4-year-old drowning victim every day
Most victims of drownings in rivers and creeks are found.
The same week that Owen was swept away, Stephen Pitts, 58, of Indianapolis, was kayaking on the Tippecanoe River near the Norway Dam when he got tangled in the dam’s current.
His body was found two days after his accident.
More:Indianapolis kayaker’s body recovered Wednesday night
The important take away is the conservation officers plan to continue to search for Anik’s body, Eager said.
There are no guarantees that he’ll be found, but they haven’t stopped looking for him.
Anyone with thoughts of harming themselves may call or text 988, a 24/7 lifeline number that connects the person to mental health professionals.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
