A married couple who documented their travels on Instagram has died after reportedly setting up their camera for a selfie and falling off an unprotected cliff at Yosemite National Park.
According to the Mercury News, the couple, 30-year-old Meenakshi Moorthy and 29-year-old Vishnu Viswanath, have been identified as the pair who fell from Taft Point last week. The overlook is 3,500 feet above Yosemite Valley, California, and allows visitors to walk to the edge of the ledge, some of which is protected with railing. Many an Instagrammer have taken photos from the overlook, including scenes of wedding proposals and wedding portraits.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSPKVQWB92y/?taken-by=holidaysandhappilyeverafters
Both Moorthy and Viswanath were born in India, graduated from science and engineering programs there, and had moved from New York City to San Francisco’s Bay Area in June. Together, they ran the blog Holidays and HappilyEveryAfters, as well as an accompanying Instagram account, which documented their travels across the world. The couple’s website has since been removed, though a cached version remains.
Amid photos of Moorthy’s pink hair and other stunning shots around the globe, they also wrote about mental health and its stigma.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjKpC4Ejs8n/?taken-by=holidaysandhappilyeverafters
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOsL6zJl83A/?taken-by=holidaysandhappilyeverafters
It’s still unclear how the couple had fallen, but Viswanath’s brother told NBC that the couple had set up a tripod on the ledge of the ridge to take a selfie. The next day, other park visitors saw the lone tripod and notified park rangers. NBC reported that the couple’s bodies were found about 800 feet below Taft Point. However, Jamie Richards, a spokeswoman for Yosemite National Park, said the park couldn’t yet officially confirm how the couple died and that investigators may take weeks while looking into the deaths.
“We are continuing to investigate what happened in this tragic incident,” Richards told the News. “When you come to a place like Yosemite National Park and you go to places with majestic, scenic views, there is an inherent level of personal risk.”
H/T BuzzFeed News
Editor’s note: An older version included the wrong location of the fall; it was Yosemite National Park. We regret the error.