Archana Suresh and Raghu Rajan, a Murphy couple on a spiritual pilgrimage they spent nearly a year planning, have not been heard from since catastrophic flooding struck Nepal's border region with China on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
The couple was traveling with Kailash Journeys, a travel agency that organizes treks near the Nepal-Tibet border. Their family told WFAA that Suresh and Rajan last sent a photo showing them surrounded by mountains along the Nepal-China border, one day before contact was lost. The next day, there was no response.
"They were so happy and excited to do this trip, do the pilgrimage and come back," Divya Chandrashekar, Rajan's sister-in-law, told WFAA.
Suresh and Rajan have two college-aged children waiting for word. Chandrashekar is watching the search from Ohio. Her husband, Rajan's brother, traveled to India to be with the missing couple's parents.
The family said 26 foreign nationals and five Nepali guides in the Kailash Journeys group are also unaccounted for.
62 miles of destruction
A mountainside collapse involving a glacier in Nepal's Langtang National Park likely triggered the flooding, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Dallas Morning News reported that water, ice, rocks and debris traveled about 62 miles downstream through populated areas. The landslide generated energy equal to a 5.2-magnitude earthquake, the USGS said.
As of Friday, Aug. 28, officials said at least 543 bodies had been recovered and more than 2,000 people remained missing. The U.S. State Department said about 90 Americans were among those unaccounted for. Three Americans had been rescued as of Thursday, Aug. 27, and the State Department said it was not aware of any U.S. deaths at that time, the New York Post reported.
The State Department deployed a disaster response adviser and provided $500,000 through Catholic Relief Services for shelter, supplies, clean water and sanitation, according to Business Insider. The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu is working with local authorities to locate Americans. The United Nations released $2 million for emergency medical care, shelter and water in Nepal.
More than 3,700 people had been rescued in Nepal by Friday, according to the Associated Press.
North Texas community rallies
Murphy is not the only local community touched by the disaster. Plano residents Deepak and Madhu Ahuja were also on a religious pilgrimage in the region, traveling with Isha Sacred Walks, and are among the missing, WFAA reported.
About 22,000 people who identify as Nepalese lived in the Dallas metropolitan area as of a 2025 Pew Research Center analysis. At the Nepali Cultural & Spiritual Center in Euless, community members have gathered daily to pray.
The Nepalese Society of Texas launched a GoFundMe for disaster relief. Bijaya Bhusal, the organization's president, told WFAA that people are losing family members, homes and assets. All funds raised will go to the Government of Nepal's Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund, organizers said.
