Pune man drowns in Glacier National Park creek in US, body yet to be found

Updated: Jul 13th, 2024


A 26-year-old Indian drowned in Glacier National Park in Montana, United States during a holiday with friends. 

The victim was identified as Siddhant Patil, originally from Pune, Maharashtra, who drowned in the Avalanche Lake Trail, as per the National Park’s release.

On the morning of July 6, Patil was hiking past the gorge on the Avalanche Lake trail when he slipped into Avalanche Creek.

Initially, he went missing and search operations were underway.

On July 7, an alert helicopter conducted aerial searches of the creek and rangers scoured the area, but Patil has not yet been found and is presumed dead.

Rangers suspected that the body was trapped by submerged obstacles like fallen trees or rocks. A drone was flown on July 10 to locate the body, but the effort was unsuccessful.

However, it is still unclear whether he slipped on a wet rock or lost his balance, but friends and witnesses saw him fall into the creek, submerge, briefly resurface, and then be swept away by the current into the gorge.

Patil was living and working in California at Cadence Design Systems and on vacation with friends. According to reports, he had messaged his mother about his return hours before the incident.

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