Well-known Indian doctor goes missing in California

A well-known Indian paediatrician living in the Bay Area of San Jose in California has gone missing with the police, family and friends searching for her.

Both the Oakland and San Jose police are searching for Dr Zehra Attari, who was missing since Monday.

Her family has offered a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the 55-year-old doctor's safe return, who has worked extensively with the poor, and hails from Udaipur in Rajasthan.

Attari, who lives in San Jose and works in Oakland, left her office on November 7, for a medical conference in Alameda. She never made it to the event.

The police are concerned due to bad weather, the driving conditions and her unfamiliarity with the route.

"There was no kind of stress or drama in her life," said San Jose police detective Steve Brownlee of the department's missing person's unit.

Police used a helicopter to fly over the Oakland estuary in case Attari had accidentally driven into the water. But there was no sign of her car.

"Police have searched the waters around Alameda and checked all neighbouring hospitals, but there have been no reports of accident," Huma Ali, her youngest daughter said.

The family said she was a cautious driver who did not like to drive at night and rarely took unfamiliar routes without her husband.

Meanwhile, friends, family and members of her mosque have hit the streets around her Oakland clinic with missing person flyers in hand.