Nadia Malik met Bhupinder "Gagan" Singh when she was 16 and in high school. Singh was working as a restaurant waiter. Despite her family's pleas to stay away from him, they moved in together in Marple, Pennsylvania, when Nadia was 19.
Nadia was a freshman in college when she became pregnant with her first child, later giving birth to two children. Sadly, their second daughter died in 2/2012 at only three months old.
A toxic relationship
The family described Nadia and Singh's relationship as volatile. "He wasn't kind to Nadia. I think my sister stayed with him because every time she tried to leave, he'd find a way to pull her back in," said Nadia's sister, Mona Malik.
The family last heard from Nadia on 9/2/2014, when she called her brother in a panic, saying she was "trying to get away" from Singh, but he "wouldn't let her go". Mona then repeatedly called her sister. Nadia answered only once, but they couldn't understand what she was saying.
The family was deeply worried because a month earlier, Singh had broken Nadia's ribs. A doctor prescribed her strong painkillers, and Nadia later told her family she suspected Singh was trying to overdose her by adding extra medication to her food.
According to Nadia's family, the couple argued because Singh wanted to get married, but Nadia wanted to leave him.
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22-year-old Nadia Malik and her 25-year-old boyfriend Bhupinder "Gagan" Singh. Photo: Facebook |
22-year-old Nadia Malik and her 25-year-old boyfriend Bhupinder "Gagan" Singh. Photo: Facebook
Unable to reach Nadia, her brother contacted Singh's probation officer to report that he was holding Nadia against her will. On 10/2, the family filed a missing person report.
Police said surveillance footage in Philadelphia showed Nadia driving away on 9/2 in a 2007 Nissan Altima registered to Singh's father but used by the couple.
While the family searched for Nadia, Singh sent them taunting messages from her phone, claiming they were on a trip and demanding $100 to speak with her. When they refused to pay, he threatened to break the phone.
In another message, Singh wrote, "Alright, believe what you want, goodbye. I promise you won't hear from her again... you lost your chance. Search for us across America; I guarantee you won't find us".
Police tracked Singh using Nadia's phone signal and located him at his parents' house outside Cleveland, Ohio. On 12/2, when police arrived, Singh attempted to flee through the back door. He was arrested for violating his probation from a 2010 drunk driving conviction by leaving the state.
Singh told Ohio police he left Pennsylvania after arguing with Nadia about their relationship, accusing her of giving him a black eye and scratching his face.
Police found Nadia's driver's license and cell phone on Singh. He admitted to using it to message her family.
Body hidden in a snow-covered car
Meanwhile, the Marple Township Police Department asked the public for help locating the car Nadia was driving. On 14/2, a man sitting in a bar near the city's main train station, 30th Street Station, recognized the vehicle parked a block away and called the police.
A Philadelphia police officer at the scene said the car had tinted windows, and Nadia's body was only visible after the door was opened.
Her body was lying on its side, face down on the passenger seat, her lower body in the space in front of the seat. It was covered by a large canvas bag extending from the dashboard to the back of the passenger seat, "almost like a blanket", police said. The bag's contents, including books and clothes, were strewn across the backseat.
Beside the body was a marriage license bearing only Singh's signature. Six prescription pill bottles in Singh's name were found in the car. Police said the body had no obvious signs of trauma.
The investigation revealed that Nadia's car received a parking ticket on 23rd Street in Philadelphia on the day she was reported missing. A major snowstorm then hit the East Coast, blanketing the city in nearly 12 inches of snow. On 14/2, the car was towed for snow removal and parked a few blocks away near 30th Street Station. When discovered, it was covered in snow and had eight parking tickets.
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Police found Nadia Malik's body inside a 2007 Nissan Altima parked in Philadelphia's University City neighborhood. Photo: Fox29 |
Police found Nadia Malik's body inside a 2007 Nissan Altima parked in Philadelphia's University City neighborhood. Photo: Fox29
Mysterious cause of death
Seven months later, the autopsy results were inconclusive. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office declared the cause of death "undetermined" despite performing an autopsy and toxicology tests.
Mona Malik said the autopsy report showed Nadia's ribs were still healing and that she had a deep puncture wound on her right hand. "They couldn't figure out where that wound came from," Mona said.
The family also mentioned that the couple's three-month-old daughter had been found unresponsive, with her mother beside her, in a car in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in 2/2012. After Nadia was found dead, also in a car, the family couldn't help but wonder if the two tragedies were connected.
In 7/2014, the Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office declared the child's death due to Cachexia, a wasting syndrome, but the manner of death was "undetermined".
Uncooperative suspect
Singh, 25, was the prime suspect. Upon being returned to Pennsylvania, he refused to answer investigators' questions. Whenever police mentioned Nadia or her family, he immediately requested legal counsel.
In 4/2016, Singh was sentenced to 4 to 23 months in prison for violating his probation. He was released in 5/2014 after time served, but had to surrender his passport and was placed on electronic home monitoring.
In 4/2016, Singh failed to report to his probation officer and disappeared. He has never been charged in connection with Nadia's death.
Philadelphia police and Marple Township police investigated extensively but lacked sufficient evidence to charge anyone.
Barry Williams, a former Marple Township police detective, said, "Up until the day I retired, I continued to work on the case, the Philadelphia detectives tried everything. We put countless hours into this case, sleepless nights, thinking about it all the time".
The "sticking point" was the medical examiner's inability to determine the cause of death, Williams said. "The medical examiners did I don't know how many tests and spent a lot of money trying to figure out what caused Nadia's death. They couldn't find it," he said.
The case was challenging and complex, involving multiple law enforcement agencies. However, the key witness – the only person who could truly explain what happened – Singh, who was with Nadia in her final hours, refused to cooperate.
Searching for the 'missing piece'
In 2016, Nadia's family filed a civil lawsuit, alleging Singh was responsible for her death because he "intentionally harmed and abandoned Nadia in the vehicle while she was deceased or near death", leaving her without identification, cell phone, or car keys.
They hoped the lawsuit would force Singh to provide answers about Nadia's final days and hours before she was found dead.
In 7/2018, Nadia's family won a $10 million civil judgment after Singh repeatedly failed to appear in court. The judge terminated Singh's parental rights but made no ruling on whether Singh was responsible for Nadia's death.
The outcome disappointed Nadia's family. "The only reason we did this was thinking he was going to come and defend himself. We just wanted him to explain, say something, but we got nothing. Even if we got a $100 million settlement, it doesn't mean anything," Nadia's brother said.
The family said any money received from the lawsuit would go to the couple's 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter, who now live with Nadia's parents.
After the civil suit, Nadia's family continued to seek help from private investigators to reopen the criminal case. They hired a forensic expert who concluded that Nadia's death was "extremely suspicious" and possibly a homicide. But the Philadelphia Department of Public Health stated the case was closed due to no new information or evidence.
Nadia's family still hopes the mystery surrounding her death will be solved. They are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator.
"Every time a new year starts, I say, 'This year, we're going to find out what happened to Nadia'. When someone's life is taken so tragically, you just want answers," Mona expressed.
The case has been featured in the media for over a decade in hopes that someone who saw or heard something relevant would contact authorities, but "nobody has come forward with that missing piece that we need," former investigator Williams said.
Tue Anh (according to AETV, Daily Mail)
