Minn. Hiker Feared Dead After Fall In India
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 20-year-old Minnesota man is missing and presumed dead after relatives say he fell hundreds of feet while hiking in India.
Victoria Brenner, the aunt of Tom Plotkin, said he was doing the Milam Glacier Trek in India when he fell 984 feet to the ledge below. Brenner said they believe he then fell another 2,000 feet into the Ganges River.
"When they repelled and looked for his body, they repelled down the face of the cliff and they found his head lamp and his jacket by the rivers edge," said Plotkin's aunt Sara Brenner.
Brenner said he is presumed dead. Plotkin's body has not yet been found.
Plotkin was a junior at the University of Iowa but was doing a semester program abroad through the National Outdoor Leadership School, based in Wyoming.
Brenner said he was an extraordinary kid who always found the time to play Scrabble with his grandma before hanging out with his own friends.
He graduated from Hopkins High School in 2009.
