Keith W. Kohn

Palm Springs Desert Sun

A well-liked attorney from El Centro who is fond of camping in Joshua Tree National Park has gone missing after a solo camping trip there, and authorities fear he was swept away in a violent downpour late last month.

The man's car was found in Box Canyon in the Mecca area two days after he disappeared.

Ankit Goyal, 28, a young lawyer with the Plourd & Breeze firm in El Centro, was last heard from by his father Arun Goyal via a text message on Sept. 30, about 5 p.m. The father said his son reported he was leaving Joshua Tree soon and would be back to his home in about two hours.

Arun Goyal of Bridgewater, New Jersey, said in an interview that time frame would have placed his son in Box Canyon, directly in the path of a fast-moving storm.

"He was exactly at the wrong place at the right time," the father said.

Officials said Riverside County Transportation Department employees contacted the Riverside County Sheriff's Department on Oct. 2 after finding Goyal's empty silver Honda with significant damage in Box Canyon between Interstate 10 and Painted Canyon Road, Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Andrew Nielsen said.

"The vehicle appeared to have been swept off the roadway in the canyon, possibly during recent storms on Sept. 30," Nielsen said. The storms caused flash flooding in the canyon.

"He loved California," Goyal's father said. "He used to tell us stories about camping."

Ankit Goyal practiced criminal and some civil law at Plourd & Breeze, where he'd worked only about seven months, said Lupe Quintal, the office manager there.

"He's a very likable guy," she said. "He loved the outdoors. He'd been to Joshua Tree several times."

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She said Goyal's parents and staff with the law firm had been to the site of the accident but were not allowed close because the road was washed away by a flash flood, presumably the one that carried the car down the canyon.

"The car was battered," she said. "There was nothing there."

Ankit Goyal is a native of New Jersey who earned his bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Authorities are continuing to accept tips and leads in Goyal's disappearance. A scaled-back search is ongoing, officials said, following a four-day, large-scale search last week that turned up some items from the battered car.

Deputies and Bureau of Land Management rangers searched the immediate area where the car was found, but could not locate Goyal. A search involving over 200 people, some with cadaver dogs, was suspended on Saturday, but a scaled-back search effort continues, Nielsen said.

Goyal is of Indian descent and stands 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts can call El Centro police at (760) 337-4525.

Anonymous tips may be made to Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-7867.

Reach Keith W. Kohn at keith.kohn@desertsun.com.

Information from City News Service was used in this report.