WGRZ-TV published August 3, 2025: Four missing Western New Yorkers found dead.
Asha Divan, Dr. Kishore Divan, Shailesh Divan and Gita Divan were found dead in Marshall County in West Virginia.
WIVBTV pubilshed August 3, 2025: 4 Western New Yorkers found dead in West Virginia after crash.
WKBW7 ABC News, Buffalo, NY local
written by Jeff Russo
Tuesdsay August 5, 2025
EAST AMHERST, New York — The community is in mourning after a local family was found dead in West Virginia this weekend.
Dr. Kishore Divan, a former medical director of the operating room at Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital, and his wife, Asha, both of East Amherst, were among four victims. Tragically, Dr. Divan's brother and sister-in-law, who were visiting from India, also lost their lives.
According to multiple social media posts, the group was traveling from Buffalo to the Palace of Gold in Marshall County. The Marshall County Sheriff's Office reported their vehicle was found a few miles away from there, off a steep embankment along Big Wheeling Creek Road, on Saturday.
"Everyone is in shock. No one knows what to do or say," said Lavanya Dokania, president of the India Association of Buffalo.
The Divans were described as generous and humble individuals who were pillars of the Western New York Indian community.
"The whole community looked up to him as a fatherly figure or even for generations like us, a grandfatherly figure," said Nathusingh Rathod, Vice President of the India Association of Buffalo.
Dinesh Sukumaran, secretary of the Hindu Cultural Society of Western New York, called the loss a "void that cannot be filled." He noted that Dr. Divan was a founding member of their organization and active in building the temple with his wife.
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People.com
written by Bailey Richards
Sunday August 3, 2025
Four elderly family members set out on a road trip from New York to a spiritual community in rural West Virginia. When they never arrived, authorities searched — and they were found dead “just five miles” from their final stop.
After they were reported missing from Buffalo, N.Y., Kishore Divan, Asha Divan, Shailesh Divan and Gita Divan were discovered “off a steep embankment” in Marshall County, W. Va., "following a vehicle crash," the Marshall County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) said in a press release shared on Facebook.
The octogenarians’ bodies were found on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 2, at around 9:20 p.m. local time, according to the MCSO. Four days earlier, they were supposed to arrive at New Vrindaban, a spiritual community and unincorporated area in rural West Virginia.
In a statement shared on Facebook, New Vrindaban said that the foursome, whom they described as “the Divan family,” were “scheduled to arrive at New Vrindaban’s Palace Lodge” on Tuesday, July 29, but never showed up. “Surveillance footage and cameras across New Vrindaban confirmed that the family never arrived at the property,” the statement said.
Kishore, 89, Asha, 85, Shailesh, 86, and Gita, 84, planned to travel from Buffalo to New Vrindaban, and visit Pittsburgh on the way, according to the community’s statement. Before their bodies were found, they were last spotted in Erie, Pa.
The Hindustan Times reported that the family was last seen at a Burger King in Erie in the afternoon of July 29, with security footage and a credit card transaction confirming that they stopped at the restaurant.
Not long after, authorities have a record of the group’s vehicle, a 2009 Toyota Camry, traveling south on I-79, which runs from Pennsylvania to West Virginia, according to New Vrindaban. Four days later, the family was found in the embankment, which the community said was “just five miles from New Vrindaban.”
The discovery came after a helicopter search in the area. New Vrindaban temple president Jaya Krsna Das worked with authorities and the Divans’ extended family in their search, the community said.
"The terrain where the crash occurred is notoriously difficult to navigate, particularly for those unfamiliar with the area,” New Vrindaban's statement said. “We are deeply grieved by this loss. While the cause of the crash is still under investigation, several possibilities have been discussed by the family and authorities, including mechanical failure, driver disorientation, or a collision.”
The MCSO did not share a cause of the crash, but said in its statement that “first responders were on the scene for more than five hours.”
The West Virginia sheriff’s office also said that “further information will be released upon the completion of the investigation.”
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