Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel (born May 15, 1990) is an Indian

fugitive A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also kn ...

wanted for allegedly killing his wife Palak at a

Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by William Rosenberg, Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Mas ...

store in

Hanover, Maryland Hanover is an unincorporated community in the Baltimore/Annapolis area in northwestern Anne Arundel County and eastern Howard County in the U.S. state of Maryland, located south of Baltimore. The community is located approximately at the interse ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

on April 12, 2015. He was added to the

FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives is a most wanted list maintained by the United States's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, and William K ...

list on April 18, 2017. Patel was the 514th fugitive to be placed on the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He was last seen at

Newark Penn Station Pennsylvania Station (also known as Newark Penn Station) is an intermodal passenger station in Newark, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, Newark Penn Station is served by multiple rail and bus carriers, ...

near his hotel in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

Background

Patel was born on May 15, 1990, in

Viramgam Viramgam is a town and former princely state in the Indian state of Gujarat. The town is located in the Ahmedabad district, which contains the city of Ahmedabad, the state's largest city. Gateway Distriparks notably flagged off the first export ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

, India. By 2015, he was married to Palak, and the couple were traveling together to visit relatives in the

. Patel was 24 at the time while Palak was 21.

Murder

On the night of April 12, 2015, Patel and Palak were working a night shift at a Dunkin' Donuts in

. The store was owned by a relative of Patel whom the couple were visiting. Surveillance footage showed Palak and Patel walking together in the kitchen at around 9:30 p.m. before disappearing out of view behind some racks. Moments later, Patel re-emerged without his wife, turned off an oven, and left the store. The body of 21-year-old Palak Patel was found later that night. She had been beaten to death and stabbed multiple times with a large kitchen knife. Investigators believe the couple had an argument, with Palak wanting to return to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

and Patel wishing to remain in the

U.S The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

. instead.

Aftermath

Customers arriving at the Dunkin' Donuts store grew concerned when no employees came to serve them. A police officer who happened to be near the store was approached by concerned customers and checked out the scene. Upon searching the store the officer found Palak's body. Police then checked the surveillance video and realized the killer was Patel, who had vanished. Patel was not identified as the suspect until over an hour after the murder, giving him time to escape. After murdering Palak, Patel fled the store and returned to his nearby apartment on foot. He took some personal items and then got a cab to a hotel near an airport in

. The taxi driver reported that Patel was very calm during the journey. He checked into a hotel in Newark and was seen on surveillance video at the counter paying in cash for a room. He checked out the following morning. Patel was last seen on the morning of April 13, 2015, around 10 a.m. at

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

. He took a hotel shuttle to the station and has not been seen since.

Investigation

Authorities believe Patel could have fled the country or could be hiding with relatives. Patel had a visa to be in the

., but it had expired by the time he carried out the murder. A report stated that because of this, there was no indication he was able to legally leave the country. An investigation with Palak's family into the murder revealed that the last conversation she had with them was about wishing to return home to

. This call was made moments before Palak was murdered by her husband and had been overheard by him. Police believe that Patel murdered his wife for this reason. Patel has connections in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. A reward of up to $100,000 is available for information that leads to his whereabouts.

References

External links