A 15-year-old girl from Kerala who went missing during a family visit to a tourist site in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district was found dead on Friday in a valley near the Manikyadhara falls, police said.
The student, Srinanda, from Kadambazhipuram in Palakkad district, disappeared on Tuesday evening while part of a group of about 40 relatives visiting the Chandradrona hill ranges.
Her body was discovered about 150 metres from where she was last seen, and police are probing whether it was an accident or not.
A large-scale search operation that spanned several days involved around 60 teams, with an additional 10 teams sent to other states, and thermal drones were used to scan the terrain.
The news of the death comes even as the Karnataka Forest, Ecology and Environment Department moved to tighten safety measures for trekkers, including the development of a mobile application to track their movement during the trek.
