Promila was last seen near her home in the 9000 block of Twin Creek Boulevard in Munster, Indiana on March 21, 2011. She disappeared after working all day at her office, where she was an opthamologist, and has never been heard from again. Her car, a gold Toyota RAV 4 with the Indiana license plate number DW2031, disappeared with her and was never found. A photo of the car is posted below this case summary. Promila was reported missing the next day after she failed to show up for rounds at the local hospital. It's uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning, or miss work without notifying her staff. She hadn't made any major financial transactions right before her disappearance, no drugs were missing from her home, and she didn't leave any kind of note.

Promila's son, Paresh Paul, lived with her on the night of her disappearance. Her other children lived out of state. A photo of Paresh is posted below this case summary. He also uses the names Paul Fountaine, Omar Ahmend and Paul Asconte. He left the area shortly after his mother's disappearance and was detained at the California/Mexico border on March 26, when he tried to cross it on foot. Police questioned him about Promila's disappearance and he refused to say how he'd gotten to the border or where his mother or her car was. He'd left his own car, without the license plate, at Promila's home.

Promila and her ex-husband, Shashi Daman Paul, who is a pediatrician, married in India in 1971. They had three sons and became wealthy, but Promila claimed her husband began physically abusing her in the 1980s and she filed for divorce in 1991. The divorce wasn't final until 1995 and they continued to have acrimonious court battles. Some of the court disputes were still pending by the time of Promila's disappearance, twenty years after the divorce filing. Shashi has remarried and now lives back and forth between Indiana and California. He's been ruled out as a suspect in Promila's case, as have two of their sons, but Paresh is considered a person of interest.

Paresh allegedly has anger problems and had physically abused his mother before, although she never pressed charges against him. He has an arrest record for public intoxication, driving under the influence, and battery. Investigators searched Promila's home several times and found evidence that leads them to believe she was murdered and her son was responsible for her death. Paresh still lives in her home. In September 2011, he sought to become the executor of her estate; in court documents, he said Promila was incapacitated and her whereabouts are unknown.

Promila graduated from the Christian Medical College in the Indian state of Punjab. Her case remains unsolved. Foul play is suspected.

Left: Promila's Toyota RAV 4;
Right: Paresh Paul