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FBI offers reward for information in murder of Indian-origin woman
Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel has been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 2017.
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Malvika Choudhary - Sat, 31, May 2025
- 13:54 EDT
- 142
Palak Patel / FBI
The FBI has renewed its call for information leading to the arrest of an Indian-origin fugitive, who is accused of killing his 21-year-old wife inside a Hanover donut shop ten years ago.
Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel has been on the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives list since 2017. The agency announced a reward of up to $250,000 for information that leads to his capture.
His last confirmed sighting was at Newark Penn Station on the morning of April 13, 2015—just hours after Palak Patel was found dead, a news release stated.
Also Read: Indian American Arrested for Plotting to Kill Wife in Indiana
According to investigators, the couple was working the night shift on April.12, 2015, when Patel allegedly led his wife into a back room and stabbed her multiple times with an edged weapon. Surveillance footage shows the two walking into the back of the store. Palak was not seen again.
There were customers inside the shop at the time of the murder. Her body was discovered later that night when a customer, finding no employees present, alerted police.
Authorities say Patel fled through a rear exit, returned to their apartment to change clothes and gather belongings, then took a cab to Newark, New Jersey. He has been on the run ever since.
Palak Patel, originally from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, had arrived in the U.S. with her husband just months earlier, in September 2014. The couple had been working at the donut shop, which was owned by a relative of Patel. Family members say Palak was homesick and planning to return to India.
The FBI believes Patel may have had help evading law enforcement and that someone may still know his whereabouts. “Someone out there knows where he’s at,” said FBI Special Agent Jonathan Shaffer, who has worked on the case for years.
Palak’s mother says the family has spent a decade waiting for justice. “Our family will never be the same,” she said. “We love and miss Palak very much. I am not losing hope.”
Patel is described as 5’9”, weighing approximately 165 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. He was born on May.15, 1990, in Gujarat, India. Authorities consider him dangerous.
Despite the passage of time, the FBI says the investigation remains active. “We continue to follow every lead,” said Shaffer. “We are committed to bringing him back to face justice.”
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