Sunol-Area Car Crash Victim Was Missing UC Santa Cruz Student

PLEASANTON, CA — The Alameda County Coroner has identified a missing University of California, Santa Cruz student as the victim in a fatal crash near Sunol, police said.

Atharva Chinchwadkar, 19, of Fremont was living at home while taking classes at UC Santa Cruz, campus police said. He told his family on the evening of Feb. 21 that he was headed out to get dog food, but didn't return.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department asked the public to be on the lookout for his car and a man matching his description last Wednesday.

His gray Toyota Camry was spotted by a bicyclist who had stopped along Calaveras Road, west of Welch Creek — between Fremont and Sunol, according to the California Highway Patrol's Dublin office. The car was upside down, 100 feet down into the canyon.

Alameda County Fire Department firefighters rappelled down the ravine to find the driver deceased in the vehicle. When the vehicle was recovered, it was confirmed that the driver had been reported missing out of Fremont last Sunday.

There were no skid marks where the vehicle left the roadway.

Anyone with any information about the crash is asked to call the Dublin CHP office at 925-828-0466.

— Bay City News contributed to this report