A preliminary opinion from the National Forensic Service says the cause of death of elementary school student A, 11, who was found dead after going missing in Juwangsan National Park in Cheongsong County, North Gyeongsang, is presumed to be a fall.

On the 10th in Daegu, an 11-year-old sixth grader, A, who visits a temple in Juwangsan National Park in Cheongsong with family and then sets out alone to climb the main peak, goes missing and a search operation is underway. The photo was taken by A on the day of the disappearance. /Courtesy of A's family.

The North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency said on May 14 that an autopsy conducted at the National Forensic Service Daegu Forensic Science Institute found "injuries that can be seen as damage from a fall, such as fractures," and that a preliminary opinion on the cause of death was "presumed death from a fall."

Earlier, a preliminary finding of "injury from a fall" was also confirmed in the police's external examination of A's body.

Investigators expect the final autopsy results to take at least two weeks to more than a month.

Police plan to hand over A's body to the bereaved family as soon as the autopsy procedures are completed.

Earlier, on the 10th, A visited Juwangsan National Park with family members, then set out on a solo hike and went missing after contact was lost.

Afterward, about 350 personnel, including police, fire authorities, and the Korea National Park Service, along with helicopters, drones, and search dogs, were mobilized for the search. At about 10:13 a.m. on the 12th, A was found dead in a brushy area about 400 meters from Juwangam toward the main peak of Juwangsan.

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