Researcher drowns in boating accident

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — A 32-year-old Indian American postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign drowned on August 19 when his kayak tipped over into the Deer Creek Reservoir, near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Anuj Khandelwal was with his wife Anshul when the boating accident happened. According to local media reports, a Good Samaritan was able to rescue Anshul, but was not able to save Anuj. Search and rescue crews found his body hours later, 75 feet under water.

Neither Anuj nor Anshul were wearing life jackets, though there were life jackets in the kayak, said Utah State Parks Sgt. Drew Patterson.

A gofundme page–www.gofundme.com/anuj-khandelwal-memorial-fund–has been set up to help pay for Anuj’s funeral expenses, including transporting his body back to India for the last rites. More than $25,000 has been raised in two days, of an initial $20,000 goal.

Anuj and Anshul were married in December 2014 in Alwar. Anuj began his studies at the University of New Delhi, then obtained a master’s degree in information systems from the University of Utah. He then went on to study medicinal chemistry at the University of Kansas, where he earned his Ph.D.