Who Was Vikram Mubayi? Indian-Origin UCSB PhD Student Found Dead in California
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Indian-origin UCSB PhD student Vikram Mubayi was found dead after going missing during a solo hike in California's Big Pine Lake area. Authorities said there were no signs of foul play, though the cause of death remains undisclosed.
By Sakshi Singh
New Delhi, August 7: Indian-origin PhD student Vikram Mubayi, who was studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), was found dead after going missing during a solo hike in the Big Pine Lake area of California on August 3.
Vikram last contacted his family at around 8.30 pm, sharing his GPS coordinates during the hike. When he failed to reach his intended destination and his family could no longer contact him, they filed a missing person report, said a report by NDTV.
A search operation was then launched by the Inyo County Search and Rescue team. The California Highway Patrol recovered his body on the evening of August 3. Authorities said there were no signs of foul play, but investigators have not yet disclosed the cause or circumstances of his death.
Vikram Mubayi's story
In his self-written biography on the website of Illini 4000, a student-led non-profit organisation, Vikram Mubayi said he was born in Hong Kong and described himself as someone who loved the outdoors and sports.
He wrote that his mother enrolled him in hiking and tennis lessons soon after he started walking. He was also an experienced cyclist, according to his biography.
He graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. Before joining UCSB, he worked as an assistant at the Burke Laboratory and also served as a teaching assistant, the media report added.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mubayi was researching bacterial and biological methods of breaking down plant waste and plastic, with the aim of developing sustainable alternatives to petroleum.
