A 15-year-old girl from Kerala’s Palakkad district was reported missing on Tuesday near Manikyadahara Falls in Chikkamagaluru district, where she was traveling with her family, police said on Wednesday.
The student, identified as Nandana, was last seen at around 5.30pm while returning upstairs after taking photos, an officer involved in the search said, adding that she was part of a group of about 40 people, including her relatives.
After the family noticed her absence and failed to locate her, they called the police and filed a complaint at around 8pm, the officer said.
A joint search operation was launched soon after, involving members of the police and forest departments, along with more than 30 forest employees. Teams combed the surrounding hills during the evening, but heavy fog and poor visibility slowed progress, people familiar with the matter said.
The search continued until approximately 1 a.m. before the teams withdrew briefly due to difficult conditions. Authorities later resumed their efforts during the night using thermal drones to survey the terrain. They added that the aerial search continued until about 4:30 a.m., but did not yield any clues.
District Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Dayama said: “We are making all efforts to locate the girl despite the difficult weather conditions and visibility problems.”
On Wednesday, additional teams from the Disaster Management Unit joined the operation. Rescue personnel from fire services, police and forest departments were divided into smaller groups and assigned specific routes based on the estimated path the girl might have taken after she was last seen.
Drone cameras were again deployed to survey inland forest areas, many of which are difficult to access on foot. Officials said the terrain poses major challenges, with steep slopes, dense vegetation and changing weather conditions complicating the search.
Local residents familiar with the area also joined the effort.
Police officials said the site is usually crowded with visitors, and they expressed hope that the girl would be located. Her family remained at the site as the search continued.
This incident comes on the heels of a recent case in Kodagu, where a 36-year-old woman from Kerala went missing while trekking in the Tadiandamul Hills. She became separated from her group during the landing and was unable to find her way in the densely forested terrain with limited mobile phone connectivity.
In this case, search teams carried out a large-scale operation over several days, involving police, forest personnel and local volunteers. The woman was eventually found alive and reunited with her family.
Following the incident, authorities in Kodagu moved to tighten controls on trekking activity and temporarily suspended access to certain routes as a precaution, citing safety concerns linked to the terrain and weather conditions.
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