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Missing NY politician found safe in a park

Long Island politician Karan 'Bobby' Kumar, who went missing last weekend, was found in a park on Tuesday evening. But the bizarre nature of his disappearance has left police with many unanswered questions.

Kumar, vice chairman of the Nassau County Republican Party and a board member at Nassau University Medical Center, had last been seen on Sunday evening after he left a diner in Syosset, NY.

His wife Roisin reported him missing the next day. Detectives found the 44-year-old's luxury SUV locked and parked behind the Celebrity Diner, though a meeting with a business associate was to be held at the Nostalgia Diner, another establishment close by.

While he was missing, police questioned Kumar's associate, his friends and family who knew about the meeting that night, and Kumar's many political friends, among which include Gov. George Pataki, prayed for his safety.

Kumar then turned up in Valley Stream State Park, unharmed.

He later explained to police that after the meeting, a van pulled up beside him as he walked to his car.

A group of individuals surrounded him, and took him inside. They drove him somewhere, but he wasn't sure where, and they didn't tell him.

The whole time, they never tied him up or blindfolded him, and never threatened him. He was just kept inside the van, he said, and then his abductors released him, taking the money in his wallet, but nothing else.

Strangely, though he was with them for nearly three days, he could not provide a description of his abductors, except that one of whom he described as "black."

Police say there were no witnesses to the abduction.

Kumar also did not provide police what kind of van he was taken in, its color, or its license plates. He did not explain to police why his abductors only took his money, and not his credit cards, clothes, or his SUV. He did not explain why they abducted him.

He also did not say why he was at the diner that evening. Police did not say who he met, but said the conversation was not about politics or the medical center that Kumar is on the board with.

Calls to his Long Island office at Kumar Enterprises for comment went unanswered, despite his voicemail promise that "he [would] get back to you."

Kumar, a father of five, came to the United States in 1982 and started as a busboy in Manhattan. With no formal education, he was able to find success in the real estate and steel industry. He also ran two newspapers for a short while.

Politics is another area that Kumar showed a knack for. He is known for his fundraising skills, and they have won him the friendship of high profile politicians.

In turn, he has benefited from knowing them: Gov. Pataki appointed him to the Stony Brook Council, an advisory board to the university, and Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta appointed him chair of the Nassau University Medical Center board.

A police detective said that the obvious questions about Kumar's story have raised eyebrows.

"I imagine detectives are checking into everything," said the officer, who did not wish to be named.

"These questions are the reason why there is an ongoing investigation," the office continued. "It is weird, but thank god he's not hurt."

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