Although the last contact with the chief minister's chopper was at 9:35 on Wednesday morning, for hours after there was confusion and conflicting reports on his safety and whereabouts.
At one point the channel owned by the chief minister's son also went on record to say he was safe, but it wasn't long before what was being feared, turned out to in fact be correct.
When the 60-year old chief minister of Andhra Pradesh flew out from Hyderabad on early Wednesday morning, little did he know what the horror of the day would bring.
An hour into the air as the cluck struck 9.30, ATC lost contact with the chopper. To make matters worse, the chopper at the time was in the Nallamalalla hill range.
There are jungles for miles on end and there is little or no phone connectivity. Though Kurnool is only 250 kilometres from Hyderabad, this was a Naxal Country.
By noon chaos erupted and local police sources and politicians started telling journalists that Reddy was safe.
But in Delhi, a watchful and tense Home Minister said that the news was incorrect.
Practically every TV channel in the country was reporting contradictions, dealing with the mystery of the missing chief minister.
Local channels, including the one owned by the chief minister's son, said Reddy was safe, while in Delhi, the Home Minister reiterated no contact.
The mood within the Congress was swiftly turning grimmer and grimmer.
As the afternoon wore on, finally the state government went on record with the spine-chilling news.
The search and rescue operations are on, but as the day turned to darkness, hope of finding YSR were drying up.
