Kin of missing Indo-Canadian in Australia double reward

The family of an Indo-Canadian man, who went missing in a national park in Australia nearly a month ago, has doubled the reward money they had announced earlier for finding him.

The Srawn family has announced that they will pay A$100,000 to anyone who can find Prabhdeep Srawn, 25, who went missing in the Kosciuszko National Park in the Australian state of New South Wales, dead or alive, media reports said Monday.

The family had announced a reward of A$50,000 last week.

Facilitators of Facebook page 'Help Find Prabh Srawn: Missing Bushwalker', also posted that the family also offered a daily stipend of A$250 for experienced hikers who are willing to join the search operation.

Srawn, of Brampton in the Canadian province of Ontario, was last seen May 13 parking his rental vehicle at village Charlotte Pass and entering the Kosciuszko National Park.

A law student of Bond University in Australia's Gold Coast, Srawn was reportedly trying to climb Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in mainland Australia that is located within the park.

Though the family has been optimistic of finding Srawn as he is a master corporal in the Canadian Armed Forces, an Australian Defence Force reservist and has had bushwalking experience, experts feel that the chances of him surviving after so long are slim.

Meanwhile, a company based in Perth, Western Australia, offered an unmanned drone to help in the search operations.

COPTERCAM's drone undertook aerial searches across the Snowy Mountains Sunday and Monday and took around 200 photographs, The Canberra Times reported.

The company's founder, Hai Tran, said that he was not aware of the case till he was approached by Srawn's family.

"They (Srawn's family) did offer to pay, but we weren't interested in that," Tran was quoted as saying.

Another Western Australia-based company, Cyber Technology, is also aiding in the search.

Meanwhile, Srawn's sister, mother and father, who arrived in Canberra May 21, are planning to stay on at Jindabyne town in southeast New South Wales till he is found.