The family of a young man missing for nearly two years after coming to California to start a business is pleading with the public for help finding him.
“There is a mother who every day looks at the door, waiting to see if he walks through the door,” the missing man’s father, Dr. Sandeep Mehta, said during a news conference on the steps of the Orange Police Department Thursday morning.
Mehta’s son, Nihar Mehta, was just 22-years-old when his parents last heard from him in June, 2023.
At the time, Chicago native Nihar was a student at Ohio State but also lived part-time in Southern California to start a business.
His parents say Nihar was always entrepenierual. As a kid, they said he would buy old dirt bikes, fix them up and then sell them for a profit.
His plans in Southern California included starting a cannabis business and developing a way to make vaping healthier, but after talking to his mother on the phone in early June, he was never heard from again.
Nihar’s mother spoke through tears at the news conference, saying, “I just need help … Please, please help. I love you … Just come home.”
Police also announced a $10,000 reward in the case and revealed there is a person of interest in the case, identified as 43-year-old Manuel “Manny” Chavez Zamudio, who worked with Nihar on some of his projects.
Police want to talk to Zamudio, who stands 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 250 pounds, but have been unable to locate him.
Police said Zamudio also has a Metallica tattoo on his left inner forearm and was likely the last person to have seen Nihar.
