AK AK - Hari Karasani, 24, missing from Healy, 31 December 2025

[KBlackRabbit]

MOO: I gently suggest this reads like mania. Into the Wild he went.
My heart hurts for his loved ones.

Alaska is a magnet for people who get romantic ideas about the wild but underestimate what they’re really getting into. One of the Alaska forums I belong to gets lots of Lower 48-ers that ask for advice for building and living in a cabin in the woods in AK. We give them all the same advice: don’t.

Tourists run into trouble all of the time up there and it’s often due to being naive, the same kind of Disney naive where people think it might be cute to pet a Bison in Yellowstone.

 

[Lisbeth_S]

Friends have created a petition on change.org requesting authorities involvement in the search.

Urgent Request for Expanded Multi-State Action to Locate Missing Person Hari Karasani

 

[slowpoke]

This article says he was supposed to return on Jan 1, but then he told his friends in his last call that it would be Jan 3 or 4 instead, because the airfare was too high on that date.

I wonder if the authorities are working on getting his phone records? Did they already check his credit card records?

2 weeks on, no info on missing Telugu student in US | Vijayawada News - The Times of India

Vijayawada: Even after two weeks, there is still no clue about the whereabouts of 24-year-old Telugu student Hari Karasani, who went missing in Alaska.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

[GraceG]

This article says he was supposed to return on Jan 1, but then he told his friends in his last call that it would be Jan 3 or 4 instead, because the airfare was too high on that date.

I wonder if the authorities are working on getting his phone records? Did they already check his credit card records?

2 weeks on, no info on missing Telugu student in US | Vijayawada News - The Times of India

Vijayawada: Even after two weeks, there is still no clue about the whereabouts of 24-year-old Telugu student Hari Karasani, who went missing in Alaska.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Two questions come to mind:

Why didn't he purchase a round trip airfare? The round trip fare almost always cheaper.

Why did he check out of the lodge on the 30th if his flight wasn't until the 3rd or 4th. Certainly they weren't "full in the middle of winter and their room rates are cheaper than many hotels around the Fairbanks airport. Was that the day the train was running?

Hopefully LE has his itinerary and has obtained access to his phone records.

 

[Inthedetails]

Hari is a Ph.D. candidate scholastically so he is likely here on a F-1 student Visa. As long as he is still enrolled at a U.S. university recognized by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) he should not be having any visa concerns. Even if graduation is looming as a Ph.D. in what I assume is a STEM course of study (most common for Indian students in the US) he has a number of options for staying here legally. Top US Visa Options For Ph.D. Holders and Students | USAFIS

I wish we could trust that is true. There are foreign students stressed about the issue. It's such an unknown thing right now, which is all the harder to deal with as they are far from home and largely on their own.

I am hoping for the best with this young man.

jmopinion

 

[cjaydub]

Two questions come to mind:

Why didn't he purchase a round trip airfare? The round trip fare almost always cheaper.

Why did he check out of the lodge on the 30th if his flight wasn't until the 3rd or 4th. Certainly they weren't "full in the middle of winter and their room rates are cheaper than many hotels around the Fairbanks airport. Was that the day the train was running?

Hopefully LE has his itinerary and has obtained access to his phone records.

I've seen conflicting reports that he left the lodge on either the 12/30 or 12/31. Do we know for certain which is accurate?

Also, no, the train would not have been running then. It only runs on the weekend, specifically northbound on Saturday.

Now, do we know that he was planning on returning to Fairbanks and flying out from there? Or is it possible that he was planning on flying out of Anchorage?

 

[slowpoke]

“His roommates initially assumed he couldn't contact them due to lack of network in mountainous areas. But when they checked his credit card records, they found he had made a transaction using a local cab facility.”

Andhra Pradesh student missing in US: Guntur native vanished during solo winter trip in Alaska; last seen on December 31 | Hyderabad News - The Times of India

student from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and pursuing his MS degree in Houston, Texas, has allegedly gone missing during a solo trip to Alaska. Karasani Hari Krishna Reddy, 24, embarked on a solo trip during the Christmas holidays on Dec 22, travelling on public transport. He last contacted his...

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

It’s interesting that his friends were able to check Hari’s credit card records, according to this. I assume there weren’t any further transactions to give a clue of his whereabouts?
moo

 

[GraceG]

I've seen conflicting reports that he left the lodge on either the 12/30 or 12/31. Do we know for certain which is accurate?

Also, no, the train would not have been running then. It only runs on the weekend, specifically northbound on Saturday.

Now, do we know that he was planning on returning to Fairbanks and flying out from there? Or is it possible that he was planning on flying out of Anchorage?

There are typically more flights to the Lower 48 from Anchorage but getting there from Healy would be more challenging than getting to Fairbanks - it's twice the distance and most trip planning websites state the roads in December can be quite icy and have short daylight hours for safe driving. I can't see him catching a ride that way from Healy. As for trains - there is Alaska Rail service between Denali (Healy) and Anchorage but I'm not certain from looking at their website if they were running at the time he checked out of the hotel. Train Schedules | Alaska Railroad

 

[cjaydub]

There are typically more flights to the Lower 48 from Anchorage but getting there from Healy would be more challenging than getting to Fairbanks - it's twice the distance and most trip planning websites state the roads in December can be quite icy and have short daylight hours for safe driving. I can't see him catching a ride that way from Healy. As for trains - there is Alaska Rail service between Denali (Healy) and Anchorage but I'm not certain from looking at their website if they were running at the time he checked out of the hotel. Train Schedules | Alaska Railroad

Yes, that's correct that there is certainly far more flight availability out of Anchorage, but he did fly into Fairbanks. So, all bets are off.

As far as the ability to get to Fairbanks vs getting to Anchorage, yes the distance to the south is greater. However, during this time of year, you don't go anywhere with speed in mind. And there is a not insignificant amount of traffic headed south to Anchorage. It would really not be that much more difficult to get a ride south to Anchorage than north to Fairbanks. If anything just maybe a bit more costly, if paying for it.

I doubt he left via train. However, if he was to leave via train it would just be a one day difference. As I previously mentioned, during the winter the train travels south on Sundays, north on Saturdays. There is occasional midweek service but that usually doesn't start until Feb, iirc.

Another big point to keep in mind, hitchhiking is far more prevalent in Alaska than in the lower 48. Or at least it was when I lived there 15 years ago. The possibility that he left via hitchhiking cannot be discounted.

 

[Knox]

“His roommates initially assumed he couldn't contact them due to lack of network in mountainous areas. But when they checked his credit card records, they found he had made a transaction using a local cab facility.”

Andhra Pradesh student missing in US: Guntur native vanished during solo winter trip in Alaska; last seen on December 31 | Hyderabad News - The Times of India

student from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and pursuing his MS degree in Houston, Texas, has allegedly gone missing during a solo trip to Alaska. Karasani Hari Krishna Reddy, 24, embarked on a solo trip during the Christmas holidays on Dec 22, travelling on public transport. He last contacted his...

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

It’s interesting that his friends were able to check Hari’s credit card records, according to this. I assume there weren’t any further transactions to give a clue of his whereabouts?
moo

Wondering if that’s a error? He wouldn’t share the reason for the trip with them or any details, but allows them access to his banking/credit card information?

 

[truthfinder2019]

Wondering if that’s a error? He wouldn’t share the reason for the trip with them or any details, but allows them access to his banking/credit card information?

Had the same reaction, it is very strange

 

[Rikissa]

Wondering if that’s a error? He wouldn’t share the reason for the trip with them or any details, but allows them access to his banking/credit card information?

It's possible for a group of friends to share a credit card, perhaps the friends are also students from India, and that's why they might have a "shared" credit card of some kind. For example see below:

Shared Credit Cards: Joint Credit Cards vs. Authorized Users | Citi.com

Explore the world of shared credit cards to discover the right choice for you and your partner's financial goals. Learn how joint cards compare to authorized users.

www.citi.com