Nihar Mehta, 22, of Chicago was last seen June 2, 2023, in Orange, California. He stood 6 feet 3 inches and weighed 225 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and a mustache. Mehta was studying business at Ohio State University and had moved to Southern California to work in the medicinal cannabis field.

Surveillance captured Mehta at about 3:00 a.m. on June 2 at a warehouse at 1440 West Taft Avenue in Orange, apparently with another person. That companion later said he left Mehta at a Walmart parking lot in Covina; that account is unverified and the companion has since been untraceable. Mehta’s white van was found abandoned June 23, 2023, at an auto shop parking lot in Placentia. Footage from June 12 showed an unidentified young white male driving the van, leaving it with keys inside and a window rolled down. Mehta’s phone, social media and financial accounts showed no activity in the months after he vanished.

A former business associate, Manuel Manny Chavez Zamudio, has been identified as a person of interest but has not been located. The family traveled from Chicago to Orange County, offered a $10,000 reward, and are working with the Orange Police Department and private investigators. If anyone has information about Nihar Mehta’s whereabouts, contact the Orange Police Department at 744-7377 or submit an anonymous tip at MissingInOrangeCounty.com.