Crime & Safety
Mayushi Is Missing: FBI Adds Graduate Student From Hudson County To Missing Persons Site
Mayushi Bhagat, 28, walked out of her Jersey City, NJ home in pajama pants and vanished. Her family says they've exhausted all leads.
JERSEY CITY, NJ — A graduate student was last seen leaving her apartment in Jersey City in pajama pants on a Monday morning in spring 2019, and was never seen again.
This week, the FBI's Newark Division added her to its webpage and has asked the public for information to help find her, said Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy.
Her family and friends started a fundraiser to find her after her disappearance, saying they'd exhausted all leads. But three years later, they still have no answers.
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The case of 28-year-old Mayushi Bhagat has gotten little media attention in recent years. Her family reported her missing to the Jersey City police on May 1, 2019.
Friends started a fundraiser soon after, saying, "Her family has not seen or heard from her since, and all police investigations have not led to any conclusive leads. The search for Mayushi has taken an emotional and financial toll on the family including substantial legal and investigative fees."
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She came to the United States in 2016 on an F1 student visa, the FBI said, and was enrolled in classes in the University of New Hampshire, then transferred to the New York Institute of Technology.
"Bhagat was last seen on April 29, 2019, leaving her apartment in Jersey City, New Jersey. She
was wearing colorful pajama pants and a black t-shirt," said the FBI.
A story in 2019 in the Times of India, "Vadodara girl studying engineering in US goes missing," said that the parents had also been living in the United States for a few months, and Bhagat's brother had recently arrived to study in the country.
The story noted that Mayushi had texted to her father via Whatsapp at 12:30 a.m. on May 1 that she was okay, but would not be returning until May 3.
Her father told another publication in India that he doesn't believe she wrote the WhatsApp message, and that the language didn't sound like her.
So Mayushi tried to call her on May 1, but only got voicemail. He contacted the Jersey City police that day asking for help. The police asked for anyone who'd been in contact with her to reach out to them.
“I just do not understand why she would not contact us at all after so many weeks," her dad told Hi India. "She was very happy with her life. She had secured an excellent job in California with a company that had agreed to file her H1B visa."
Bhagat is 28 years old, 5’10” tall, medium build (150-160 pounds), with black hair and brown eyes, the FBI said.
The missing person poster can be found at: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/mayushi-bhagat.
Mayushi's photo appears near the top of this list of missing and kidnapped persons in the United States.
A crime blogger posted these photos and more information.
Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the FBI Newark Office at 973-792-3000 or their nearest FBI office.
Tips can also be submitted online at https://tips.fbi.gov/.
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