In a heart-rending confession, actor Raj Kiran's daughter says reports of her dad found in Atlanta mental hospital are not true...

Even during his stardom days, Raj Kiran was very private about his family.

And that's one of the reasons why his family couldn't decide if they should come out with the sad truth, even after the media carried stories about him being found in an Atlanta mental hospital in May.

Finally, his reticent daughter, Rishika narrates the trauma that the family has been going through since last eight years and more so after the false reports about him.

"Even when dad was active in the film industry, he made sure that we led a very protected life. We lived very normal and private lives. We never felt like dad belongs to Bollywood.

"It took us a long time to decide if we should actually come out with the real truth about him. We would have kept it private, but for the reports of him being found. That is not true.

He is not in Atlanta. We have been looking for him for over eight years. We have involved the New York police and hired private detectives to find him. But he's not been found."

Rishika says her dad disappeared from New York. "It is very out of character for him to not inform us about his whereabouts. So we have been mighty worried.

He was the most loving father. Yes, he suffered from a bit of mental illness before he disappeared. We wanted to deal with this on our own, but those false reports forced me to come out in the open. I think this is totally unfair on my mother, " she says.

It was in May that Rishi Kapoor had said that someone had informed him about Raj Kiran being in a mental institute.

He had then said, "I wanted to speak to Raj and visit him in Atlanta. But I couldn't get his contact number. I'm definitely going to visit him and urge him to return home."

Rishika says, "Rishi Kapoor has been very close to my dad and he has been very kind to us over the years. He has been enquiring about him for a long time now."

"The truth is my mum and my uncle Gobind Mahtani (Raj Kiran's brother) have done whatever they could to find dad.

My family has used all sources possible except the media and we want to use that now to find him. I want Rishi uncle to help us find him. Since he has shown a lot of caring for my dad, his assistance will surely help, " she says.

As the story gets more tragic, we can only hope that the family finds Raj Kiran soon.