CINCINNATI — Venus Patel, a 45-year-old West Chester man, is among 90 Americans still missing days after catastrophic flooding hit the Nepal-Tibet border.
Close friend Sandy Gay said Patel was traveling for a religious pilgrimage and staying at the Hotel Kailash outside of Kathmandu when the floods swept through the area.
WATCH: Hear from Sandy Gay as she says she still has hope
Patel recently moved back to West Chester to care for his aging parents and take over the family business. He spent many years in St. Louis, where he built a close-knit friend group that is now doing everything they can to find him.
With little communication able to come out of the devastated areas, one friend has even flown to Kathmandu to search for Patel himself.
Gay described Patel as the core of their friend group and shared photos and videos of their fun-loving friend with a bright smile.
"You know out of anywhere.. of course our shining star would be right in the middle of that. So we are putting out manifestation, we are putting out hope, we are putting out anything we can into the universe to find him, and we will," Gay said.
Friends held a prayer vigil in St. Louis Sunday evening.
Anyone looking for more information can visit the Nepal Disaster Search website at nepaldisastersearch.com.
