Bodies of two Indian students who went missing in Indiana lake recovered

The bodies of two Indian students have been recovered after they went missing at a lake in the east of the Paynetown Marina in Indiana, reported USA Today.

The newspaper reported that two Indiana students went missing at Lake Monroe last week’s Saturday afternoon, April 15, 2023, and their bodies were recovered late Tuesday morning, April 18.

The bodies of Siddhant Shah (19), and Aryan Vaidya (20) were recovered around 11:20 am (local time) in 18 feet of water in an area east of the Paynetown Marina, located roughly 10 miles southeast of the university’s campus in Bloomington.

Shah and Vaidya were boating on a pontoon when their group anchored to swim. Both men did not resurface and friends attempted to help them but were unsuccessful, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources reported.

One of the men had been struggling in the water when others jumped in to help, said Lt. Angela Goldman, a Department of Natural Resources representative, reported USA Today.

After the incident, divers jumped in and searched until 10 pm using sonar and scuba divers, and all day Sunday under windy conditions, Goldman said.

The lake was busy with boaters on Saturday, which was sunny and warm.

But Sunday and Monday, cold rain and the wind changed the nature of the lake, which was mostly deserted, according to USA Today.

“With 15-to-20-mph sustained winds, we’re struggling with that,” Goldman said from the lake Monday morning.

“A lot of the technology we use that makes things more precise needs better conditions. When dealing with whitecaps and wind, our sonar is not as effective,” he added.