Recording shows missing student

Surveillance footage from July 23 shows missing UCLA student
Ahmad Arain exiting an MTA bus well before arriving at his campus
destination, leaving authorities questioning whether his departure
was voluntary and some family members suspecting he may be held
against his will.

The footage obtained by university police Aug. 2 shows Arain
““ a fourth-year computer science student who has been missing
since July 23 ““ boarding the No. 305 MTA line, which goes to
UCLA, at 10:43 a.m. and exiting at 11:30 a.m.

It is likely Arain boarded the bus at the Manchester Avenue stop
near the 110 Freeway and exited at a stop on the corner of San
Vicente Boulevard and McCarthy Vista, south of Wilshire Boulevard
and about 6 miles from UCLA.

The UCPD initially said Arain boarded the bus at the Imperial
Highway/Wilmington Avenue Rosa Parks bus station in Watts, but,
after talking to a bus driver who believes he dropped off Arain, it
now believes he exited at Manchester Avenue.

Police determined the stop at which he exited by taking
photographs out the bus windows and comparing them to the
surveillance footage.

Though police officials say they cannot determine why Arain
would exit the bus at Manchester Avenue, family and friends have
speculated Arain had either stopped for a bite to eat or realized
that he was too late for his appointment and opted to turn around
and return home.

But the area around the stop at which he is suspected to have
exited is mostly residential and does not have places to eat
nearby.

Rafe Husain, Arain’s uncle, said he believes Arain’s
actions may not have been voluntary. He said if nothing was holding
him back, Arain would have come home by now.

This is a difficult case for the authorities, said Nancy
Greenstein, director of police community services for the UCPD,
because Arain is an adult and seems to have voluntarily exited the
MTA bus.

“Obviously, in the last picture, he looked healthy and got
up on his own initiative,” Greenstein said, adding that
police are not speculating on what could have happened to the
20-year-old but are following all viable leads.

Though Arain is considered an adult and capable of leaving on
his own initiative, his family has said it is not like him to leave
without telling it.

Despite a derth of promising leads, Arain’s family has not
given up hope of finding him.

“We are praying, and we’re trying to stay
optimistic,” said Sulayman Arain, Arain’s brother.

He added that he and the volunteers helping to search have been
scouring the places around where he is suspected to have exited the
bus. Those areas include parks, convenience stores and clubs.

Arain’s sister has been making posters to welcome him
home, Husain said.

Arain had a counseling appointment on campus July 23 scheduled
for 11:30 a.m. to which he failed to show up.

Earlier that morning, Arain was dropped off by family members at
an MTA stop by Disneyland near his home in Anaheim.

He was expected to be home that evening and was reported missing
when he did not return that night on the last bus.

Police officials confirmed Arain’s computer currently is
being investigated and have said that his credit card records have
shown no activity since the time of his disappearance.

Contact UCPD at (310) 825-1491 with information on
Arain’s whereabouts.