A 25-year-old American artist, teacher, and humanitarian volunteer was tragically beaten to death in Nepal this summer. Dahlia Yehia went missing for over a month after traveling to the country at the end of July to assist in the earthquake relief effort.
On August 4, Yahia traveled to Pokhara, a city 125 miles northwest of Kathmandu. A WhatsApp message sent the following day was the last time anyone had heard from her.
Yehia’s family contacted the US Embassy to report their concern after an extended period of silence, and an investigation was launched by Nepalese authorities.
Family and friends, desperate to find her also created a community page on Facebook called “Find Dahlia.” Last Friday (Sept. 4), the devastating news was announced on the page that she was killed by her host.
Police have detained Narayan Prasad Paudel, who reportedly confessed to killing his guest to obtain her iPhone and money. They reportedly met through a couch surfing website.
Nepalese officials were able to track him down via the missing phone.
According to the Independent, Paudel reportedly admitted to bludgeoning the artist to death using a hammer and a stick, before disposing of the body in the Sethi river. Local police are still searching for the body.
Yehia traveled to Nepal as a volunteer following the deadly earthquake in April that claimed over 9,000 lives and left hundreds of thousands of Nepalese without shelter.
The Sci-Tech Preparatory school in Austin, Texas, where Yehia worked as a teacher, published a tribute to her on their Facebook page after learning of her death.
“The kids loved having her for their art teacher last year, especially high school kids who went to the graffiti park downtown on city buses with their backpacks loaded with cans of spray paint!!,” the page reads. “We are all saddened by the loss of such a special spirit!”
