Family members and friends have begun directing appeals toward Sunil Tripathi in hopes of encouraging him to return home, mother Judy Tripathi said Monday.
Since the former member of the class of 2012 disappeared three and a half weeks ago, family members, friends and law enforcement officers have been conducting foot searches in Providence and raising awareness of Tripathi’s disappearance all over New England.
“One of the things we’ve been thinking about for some time was to talk to him directly,” Judy Tripathi said, adding that she hopes he will “see us all together three weeks later, still hopeful, still optimistic.”
The family released a video on YouTube Monday encouraging Tripathi to contact them and let them know he is safe.
“Sunil, the only thing missing is you,” read the description on the video, which depicts immediate and extended family members and friends coordinating search efforts and speaking to the camera.
Family members have also posted photos and asked Tripathi to reach out to them through a Facebook page dedicated to the search. The family has corresponded with national missing persons organizations like the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and LostNMissing, which also encouraged addressing Tripathi directly, Judy Tripathi said.
“As police and FBI agents probe surveillance videos, the family and friends of missing Brown University student Sunil Tripathi remain positive about his return,” according to a statement from the family released Monday.
Law enforcement officers are continuing to follow the case, Judy Tripathi said.
“We are all bolstered by the fact this case is still very much alive,” she added.
Since surveillance footage possibly depicting Tripathi was revealed March 29, family members have continued securing surveillance tapes from Providence businesses.
Though no new footage of Tripathi has surfaced, the tapes are “eliminating the streets we’ve looked at” as possible routes he might have taken, Judy Tripathi said.
University officials — including University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson, a first-year adviser of sister Sangeeta Tripathi ’04 and family friend — have continued to assist the family and are “constantly in touch,” Judy Tripathi said.
Administrators have offered resources to the family, including bedding and clothing.
“(President Christina Paxson) had us for dinner one night at her house,” she added. “She’s been absolutely supportive and in communication with us.”
The University has also provided temporary housing in Gardner House for the family to use as a base for their search effort, she said.
The Office of the President, the Office of Campus Life and Student Services, the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life and the Department of Public Safety have all been involved in assisting the family, wrote Vice President for Public Affairs and University Relations Marisa Quinn in an email to The Herald.
“In terms of additional campus involvement and communications, we will continue to follow the guidance of law enforcement on ways that we can help advance search efforts,” Quinn wrote.
Family members plan to relocate from Gardner House to an apartment near campus to continue the search, Judy Tripathi said. The family will sublet the apartment one month at a time, she said.
“The minute Sunil is found, we will have a reason to pack up and go home,” Judy Tripathi said. “Until then, we will have some presence here.”
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