Kerala Girl Who Went Missing During Hike In Karnataka Found Dead 4 Days Later

A 14-year-old girl from Kerala who went missing during a family trip to the Chandradrona hill range in Karnataka was found dead - four days after an intensive search by the police, with her family suspecting a case of kidnapping.

Sri Nanda, a Class 10 student and a native of Palakkad in Kerala, was on a family trip in Karnataka with around 40 relatives. According to the police, they had visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site Hampi in the North Karnataka region and arrived in Chikkamagaluru city at 3 pm on April 7. They then travelled in private jeeps to a shrine and later went for a hike to a tourist spot in the Chandradrona hills on April 7. 

The girl was seen in a video with one of her family members on the day of the hike.

However, around 6 pm - as the darkness set in, the girl went missing.

According to her family, they had last seen her in the Manikyadhara region of the hills.

Despite continuous search efforts by family members initially, she could not be traced, prompting a police complaint.

The cops immediately launched a search operation in the deep ghat sections and steep terrains of the hills. Officials used ropes to access difficult areas, while drone surveillance had also been deployed during night operations. Four days after a continuous search, Sri Nanda's body was found in the valley, nearly 1,500 feet below the Manikyadhara viewpoint

The girl's family expressed suspicion that she had been kidnapped.

"One argument is that the girl was kidnapped, while another suggests that she may have gone away with someone. Such opinions are being expressed, but the truth will be known once she is traced," Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said.

Although authorities launched the search operation immediately and used modern equipment such as thermal cameras and drones, no clues were found initially, which raised suspicions. Officials are probing all angles and verifying whether she slipped from the mountain or if there is any other reason behind the incident, they said.

Police have seized the mobile phones of the girl's parents for further investigation.

This came days after a woman techie from Kerala, GS Sharanya, went missing for four days during a trek in Karnataka.

On April 2, the 36-year-old IT professional set out to climb Thadiyandamol, the highest peak in Kodagu, Karnataka. While trekking down, she got separated from her group and lost her way. She tried tracing her path back to the group but ended up deep in a dense forest, where she spent four days, surviving on nothing but water - before she was located and rescued.