Indian Family That Died While Illegally Crossing into US Identified as Residents of Gujarat’s Mehsana

The four bodies of an Indian family that were recovered last week from the St. Lawrence River have now been identified by Indian police. Their bodies, along with four other bodies, were recovered from the area along with the boat they were allegedly travelling in. The police is still looking for the owner of the boat.

The four bodies of the Indian family members were identified by Achal Tyagi, superintendent of police for the city of Mehsana, in Gujarat. He shared that the four people were the father, Praveenbhai Chaudhari, 50; mother, Dakshaben, 45; son, Meet, 20; and daughter, Vidhi, 23. Tyagi also shared that Praveenbhai was a farmer and that the police has opened an investigation into the matter. They also met with Praveenbhai’s family members on Monday.

As per the police, Praveenbhai’s family members shared, “They were in Canada for the last two months, and they had gone from here on a Canada (tourist) visa. But what transpired in Canada and why they were travelling to the U.S. is not exactly known.”

It was reported that the four Indian family members, as well as the four Romanian family members, were travelling via boat through the St Lawrence River to illegally cross into the US. The Indian family had travelled to Canada on a tourist visa.

Akwesasne Mohawk police is still trying to locate Casey Oakes, 30, the alleged owner of the boat the two families were travelling in. He was last seen on Wednesday night, the day before the first body was found, operating the boat in the Mohawk territory. However, the police has not made any direct connections between the deaths and Oakes.

This is not the first incident of a family from Gujarat dying while trying to illegally cross into the US. In January 2022, four members of the Patel family froze to death metres away from the border near Emerson, Manitoba. Three people in India were charged in their deaths and a Florida man is facing trial in Minnesota for human smuggling.

Vineet Washington