Around 150 members from Conway in Arkansas of the United States of America (USA) joined hands on February 4 and 5 to find an Indian teen who has been reported missing over the past three weeks. They are yet to find her. Tanvi Marupally (14), who lived with her parents Pavan Roy and Sridevi, was last seen in security footage in the Conway neighbourhood on January 17. According to the police, Tanvi was not carrying any electronic gadgets, which makes the search operation difficult. Tanvi reportedly ran away fearing that her father would lose his job in the ongoing layoffs, which might result in the family moving to India.
The volunteers, comprising neighbours, parents of Tanvi’s classmates, teachers, her school employees, and even strangers, came together over the first weekend of February to begin the search operation named Find Tanvi and help the devastated parents. Marilyn Chapman, one of the librarians at the Jr Conway High School who organised the search, told TNM, “A concerned group of teachers and community members wanted to help find Tanvi. We created a script, mapped out areas to search, printed flyers, and did our best to organise a community grid search. The Conway community showed up in a major way and we are grateful for everyone's time and effort.”
Around 65 locations were shortlisted on Google Maps and each group picked up an area and sieved through it in the hope of finding Tanvi or any clues that might lead to her. The search groups walked through the streets where Tanvi might have possibly passed through, distributed flyers, put up banners, knocked on each door, and asked households to check their CCTV footage to find any clues about where she might have gone.
Jenny Wallace, a resident of Conway who is an active part of the search mission, told TNM that CCTV footage is one of the key elements that might lead to Tanvi. “CCTV footage is crucial and it needs to be checked as soon as possible, as it gets deleted in the span of a month in most cases, or less than that, depending on settings. If more people are informed about Tanvi, there is the possibility of more people checking and informing us. Many of us involved in the search are frustrated as to why this was not done by the police in the first week. For the same reason, we were begging the police to conduct a press conference.” Jenny further added that the community has supported the search operation well, from printing flyers for free, to making free announcements on billboards, and promptly checking cameras.
Conway community members helping in the search for Tanvi
With diligent action, some of the groups were able to find clues about Tanvi and inform the police. Speaking to TNM, Loren Brooks, a member of the search party, said, “We received a couple of tips of possible sightings, informed people who had not heard that Tanvi was missing, and noted places that had cameras that needed to be reviewed. We reported all information to the Conway Police Department Tip Line and they said they would follow up on every lead we gave. My hope is that the police will take a more aggressive approach in searching for Tanvi and update the community on their progress.” Loren further added, “We are doing our best to notify the community of Tanvi's disappearance. We hope everyone will review their cameras, check their outbuildings, and stay diligent about finding Tanvi.”
Jenny further said that even though Conway is a safe town, they are afraid of the interstate areas, where there is a possibility of trafficking. “We are afraid that she might have run into trouble, which is a reason why this should not be considered as a runaway case and should be taken seriously by the police," she said, expressing her frustration over the police considering this as a runaway case. “I spoke to three police officers to ask the public to check the cameras. Some of them, it's already late, and we have only a week left. Did someone take her, which direction did she go? Without police help, it is really hard. We also begged the police to give a press conference. We are trying to keep pushing for that.”
Meanwhile, following increased pressure from the public, the Conway police on Tuesday, February 7, put up an official announcement on their social media pages requesting the public to search their CCTV footage. In their post on February 7, the police stated, “If you have a security camera, please check your footage from Tuesday, January 17, 2023 from at least 3.00 pm to 10.00 pm. This is the day that Tanvi left Conway Junior High School and continued walking north on Davis Street. If you have information regarding Tanvi’s whereabouts, please contact us at (501) 450-6120 or at 911 immediately.”