India, April 10 -- A 15-year-old girl from Kerala's Palakkad district was found dead on Friday in a valley near Manikyadhara waterfalls in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru, concluding a massive search operation that lasted several days after she went missing during a family visit to Chandradrona hill ranges.

The student from Kadampazhipuram disappeared on Tuesday evening from a group of about 40 relatives. Her absence was noticed after reaching the summit, prompting a search by Chikkamagaluru Rural police.

Superintendent of police Jitendra Kumar Dayama confirmed the recovery. "The body has been spotted and identified. It may be an accident but we are also probing other angles," he said. In a separate interaction, he added, "The post-mortem an...