John Allen Chau

Chau was born in December 1991 in the U.S. state of Alabama, the third and youngest child of Lynda Adams-Chau, an organizer for Chi Alpha, and Patrick Chau, a Chinese-American psychiatrist[4] who left China during the Cultural Revolution.[4]

In November 2018, Chau embarked on an expedition to North Sentinel Island, which he considered to be "Satan's last stronghold on Earth",[5] with the aim of contacting and living among the Sentinelese.[6][7] He expressed a strong desire to preach Christianity to the tribe.[8] In preparation for the trip, Chau was vaccinated and quarantined,[9] and also undertook medical and linguistic training.[8] However, he did not seek permission from the Indian authorities before embarking, making his trip illegal under Indian law,[10] as foreign citizens must obtain a permit to visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with nobody being allowed on North Sentinel.[11] Instead, Chau paid two fishermen ₹25,000 to take him close to the island.[12] The fishermen were later arrested.[13]

Despite efforts by Indian authorities, which involved a tense encounter with the tribe, Chau's body was not recovered.[7] Indian officials made several attempts to recover Chau's body but eventually abandoned those efforts. An anthropologist involved in the case told The Guardian that the risk of a dangerous clash between investigators and the islanders was too great to justify any further attempts.[14] A murder case was opened following his death [15] though both the Indian and the U.S. governments have stated that they will not pursue legal charges against the Sentinelese natives.[16] Chau was the subject of significant criticism for visiting the island despite the possibility of introducing deadly pathogens to the native Sentinelese.[17][4][18][19]