Missing 14-year-old Kerala girl found dead near Manikyadhara Falls in Karnataka, body recovered from gorge

The body of a missing Kerala teenager was found from a deep gorge near Manikyadhara Falls in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru district on Friday, ending a nearly four-day search operation.

The police suspect that the girl, Sreenanda, 14, may have accidentally slipped and fallen into the gorge, which is estimated to be nearly 2,000 feet below the waterfall, though they have not ruled out other possibilities at this stage.

Following a complaint filed by her parents, the police Wednesday had registered a First Information Report under Section 137(2) (kidnapping) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Authorities had been examining multiple angles, including possible abduction.

The teenager, who is from Kerala’s Palakkad, had gone missing during a family trip to Inam Dattatreya Peetha and Manikyadhara Falls. She was last seen near the waterfall area around 5.20 pm on Tuesday and disappeared within a short window of a few minutes.