American Citizen goes missing in West Sikkim

GANGTOK, October 15: An American national Samuel (Sam) Mitchell has gone missing in Sikkim for the past eight days forcing his concerned Chinese wife Lu Yuan to alert the authorities here about her missing husband.
The missing American is aged 53 years and had entered Sikkim on September 26 from Kolkata, said his wife in an email statement. She has already intimidated the authorities here about her missing husband and the police here are trying their best to trace the missing American who has vanished since October 7.
According to Lu Yuan, she had last spoken to her husband on a disturbed mobile phone line on October 7 where Mr. Mitchell had told her that he would reach her home in Kumming, China on October 11.
During the last call, Mr. Mitchell had told his wife that it was raining very heavily in some place in Sikkim.
“He (Mitchell) entered Sikkim on September 26 through the land border but has not left Sikkim from what I can gather. My husband always advises me if his plans change. However, I have not heard from him after October 7”, said Lu Yuan expressing her fears that her husband may not be in a position to call and could have suffered an accident. Calls to his mobile number have been futile as the calls state power off, she said.
Lu Yuan said that she had given the details to the American Consulate on October 12.
“My husband is definitely missing whilst on a tourism trip in Sikkim. It is quite possible he is hurt and needs urgent attention. Maybe he is in some village or location where there is no electricity or connectivity”, Lu Yuan said in her email statement.
In a disturbing development over the missing person incident, Lu Yuan informed that someone unsuccessfully tried to use Mr. Mitchell’s credit card in Kolkata on October 13.
Stating that she will be coming to Sikkim to find her husband, Lu Yuan has appealed the authorities here to find Mr. Mitchell who is suspected to have disappeared somewhere while touring West Sikkim.
East Sikkim Superintendent of Police (SP) Dr. Mandeep Singh Tuli informed that Sikkim Police is making all efforts to locate the missing American. We have checked all the hotels here in Gangtok and West Sikkim police are checking all the hotels in that District, he said.
“We are making all efforts to trace him”, said Dr. Tuli