Search for missing bushwalker enters second day

Police are continuing their search for a woman in her twenties who fell from a waterfall in the NSW Southern Highlands on Sunday.

Police and NSW State and Emergency Service crews were called to Belmore Falls and Barrengarry Creek on Sunday afternoon after receiving reports the woman had fallen into the water about 1pm, a NSW Police spokesman said.

The waterfall, which plunges about 77 to 130 metres across three drops, is a popular attraction for tourists.

But the search was called off on Sunday evening due to fading light, and recommenced on Monday at 8am.

The falls would be closed until Wednesday “to assist emergency services”, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife (NPSW) said on its website.

Last September, 28-year-old Colombian Jeisson Leon died after falling from a cliff while abseiling at Belmore Falls. It took police, SES and ambulance crews three hours to recover his body.

Three months later, NPWS authorities issued a public plea urging travellers not to attempt hiking to the base of the Belmore and Gerringong waterfalls.

Formal tracks to the base of both waterfalls have been closed for at least five years, but area manager Graham Bush said there had been a recent surge in illegal access “fuelled by social media”.