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Man accused of living in O’Hare for 3 months described as ‘gentle soul’ who was supposed to be going home to India, friends say

After coming to the United States five years ago to complete a master’s degree program, Aditya Singh said goodbye to his friends in California on Oct. 19 and boarded a Chicago-bound flight from Los Angeles to begin his journey home to India.

He never made it. In a troubling series of events that raises security questions at one of the world’s busiest airports, authorities allege Singh lived undetected for nearly three months at O’Hare until this past weekend, when someone finally noticed and alerted police.

On Monday, he remained in the Cook County Jail on charges alleging felony criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport and misdemeanor theft. He is due in court Jan. 27.

Singh, 36, lived in the secure area with access to terminals, shops and food at O’Hare International Airport until his arrest Saturday after two United Airlines employees asked to see his identification, prosecutors said. He showed them an airport ID badge that an operations manager had reported missing on Oct. 26.

Police said Singh told them that the coronavirus pandemic left him too afraid to fly and so he instead remained in the airport, often relying on the kindness of strangers to buy him food. His arrest made national headlines, with comparisons to the 2004 Tom Hanks movie, “The Terminal.”

In a statement, the Chicago Department of Aviation said on Monday that there is “no higher priority” than airport safety and security, which is maintained by a “coordinated and multilayered law enforcement network.”

“While this incident remains under investigation, we have been able to determine that this gentleman did not pose a security risk to the airport or to the traveling public,” the statement read. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners on a thorough investigation of this matter.”

An airport official told the Tribune it is unclear if Singh stole the badge or found it. After it was reported missing, the badge would have been deactivated, according to the official, who said if Singh attempted to use it to enter a restricted area, his access would be denied and an alarm would trigger.

There is no indication that Singh left the secured side of the airport, the airport official said.

Singh completed a master’s program at Oklahoma State University and had been living since summer 2019 in Orange, California, southeast of Los Angeles, in the home of Carl Jones, who said he offered Singh a place to live in exchange for helping him care for his elderly father and other odd jobs.

Jones told the Tribune that Singh’s visa was expiring, so he planned in October to return to India, where his mother lives. Jones described Singh as a “very gentle soul” who often volunteered helping the homeless. The two last spoke Oct. 19 when, Jones said, Singh confirmed he had arrived safely in Chicago and was on his way to India.

“I’m kind of flabbergasted,” Jones said when told about Singh’s arrest. “Maybe he got to Chicago and due to some sort of hiccup couldn’t get any farther or just freaked out about having to go back to India, I don’t know. But, as far as I know, he was supposed to be just laying over and going to India.”

The two met through Mary Steele, who said she has known Singh since 2018, when she traveled between Oklahoma and California for various religious and political activism events. Singh, whom she described as deeply spiritual, had another year left after graduation before his visa expired and wanted to “go west,” and so she connected him with Jones.

Steele also lived in Jones’ house, but she said she last saw Singh in August because she was traveling. The two spoke on the phone and texted several times since October, and Steele said she did not believe her friend when he told her in late November that he was living in the airport as part of a spiritual awakening of sorts.

“I believed him the first couple weeks after I found out, but then I was thinking to myself it’s just not possible with all the security that he was in that airport that long,” she said.

Steele shared a series of texts with the Tribune that she said were exchanged between her and Singh as she repeatedly offered him support to return to California. He even snapped a couple of photos that he sent her, including one of himself wearing a face mask and one of passengers sitting in a United Airlines terminal.

On Dec. 1, he wrote, “I need to complete my karmic lessons that I’m learning here. Then I’ll be able to go back home to India.” Singh said he enjoyed speaking to other people in the airport, sharing his Buddhist and Hindu beliefs on healing and trying to help improve their lives, according to Steele.

Shortly before his arrest, she said, Singh told her he planned to return to California with the goal of getting to India. The two discussed bus fare prices, and Steele offered to help. In a Jan. 3 response, Singh texted, “I’m actually growing spiritually due to this experience and I know I will come out stronger.”

Both Steele and Jones described Singh as sensitive, kind and perhaps too trusting. They said he had a recent fallout with a friend and some financial issues that followed, but they did not know if the situation contributed to his decision to remain in the airport for months.

“This is a wonderful, good-hearted man,” Steele said. “There is no malice in his heart or ill will. He did this all because he really felt universal forces — God, the Holy Spirit, whatever you want to call it — was telling him this was his karmic lesson. And there you have it — now his karmic lesson is being (in jail) in the United States of America.”

Singh does not have a criminal record, authorities said. It is unclear if he actually had a plane ticket to India after reaching O’Hare, but Steele said he told her his plan was to call his mother after arriving in Chicago, and that she would arrange for his continued journey back home.

cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com