05.01.2026 12:30
In the preliminary autopsy conducted at Bursa Forensic Medicine regarding the lifeless body of Elif Kumal found inside a car at Yukarıyapıcı Pond, no traces of sharp instruments or firearms were detected. In the initial assessment, the cause of death was indicated as drowning.
Elif Kumal (34), who was reportedly involved in an argument with her boyfriend Enis G. (37) while camping in the Kapıdağ Peninsula in the Erdek district of Balıkesir and left the area in her vehicle, was found dead in her car at Yukarıyapıcı Pond eight days later. Kumal, whose preliminary autopsy at the Bursa Forensic Medicine Institution found no signs of sharp force trauma or gunshot wounds and was deemed to have died from drowning, had her car retrieved from the pond.
Elif Kumal went camping with her boyfriend Enis G. and a friend named Yavuz on December 27 at the shore of Yukarıyapıcı Pond in the Kapıdağ Peninsula. Enis G. called the 112 Emergency Call Center at 12:09 PM on December 28, stating that he had a dispute with his girlfriend Kumal, and after the argument, Elif Kumal left the campsite in her vehicle with license plate 16 ATB 289 during the night and he had not heard from her since. Following the report, teams were dispatched to the area. The teams examining security cameras found no footage showing Kumal's vehicle heading towards Erdek or Bandırma. Gendarmerie teams initiated a large-scale search operation.
AFAD teams from Çanakkale, İzmir, Manisa, Afyonkarahisar, and Bursa, along with gendarmerie commando teams and search and rescue teams from civil society organizations in Bursa and surrounding provinces, were also dispatched to the area as reinforcements. The gendarmerie's tracking dogs also supported the efforts. Elif Kumal's boyfriend Enis G. and their friend Yavuz were released under judicial control after the detention period expired, as there was no evidence related to Kumal's disappearance.
HER BODY WAS FOUND IN THE CAR The gendarmerie, police, fire department, AFAD, 911 Search and Rescue Association, and search and rescue teams from civil society organizations conducted search operations in the pond and sea with ground teams, helicopters, Bayraktar TB-2 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and drones, as well as underwater search and rescue teams from the marine police and gendarmerie. ATV and motocross riders also supported the teams. On the eighth day, the search efforts were intensified at Yukarıyapıcı Pond, where Elif Kumal and her boyfriend had camped.
THE CAR WAS LOCATED WITH SIDE SCANNING SONAR A special team from Ankara identified Kumal's vehicle 25 meters offshore and at a depth of 10 meters using a Side Scanning Sonar (SSS) device. Divers who entered the pond reached Elif Kumal's lifeless body in the driver's seat of the car.
WILL BE BURIED IN BANDIRMA After the prosecutor's examination, Kumal's body, which was taken to the Bursa Forensic Medicine Institution, was handed over to her relatives following the autopsy procedures. According to the preliminary autopsy results, Elif Kumal, whose death was deemed to be due to drowning and showed no signs of sharp force trauma or gunshot wounds, will be buried today in the Doğu neighborhood of Bandırma at the time of the afternoon prayer.
THE DRIVER'S WINDOW OF THE VEHICLE RETRIEVED FROM THE POND WAS OPEN Elif Kumal's vehicle with license plate 16 ATB 289 was retrieved from Yukarıyapıcı Pond by a crane in the morning hours. It was observed that the window on the driver's side was halfway open and the front tires were flat, and the scene investigation teams conducted an examination of the vehicle.
"ELIF CALLED HIM AND SAID 'THE CAR DOORS ARE LOCKED'" While the investigation initiated by the Erdek Chief Public Prosecutor's Office is ongoing, Kumal's sister-in-law Fatma Kumal stated in an interview with DHA on the seventh day of the search efforts that Enis G. called her on the morning of December 28, saying, "He called me, while communicating with me, he says he used the expression 'The car doors are locked,' that Elif called him. What should he do? All the gendarmerie and police should be called, right? When did I get the news? 11:23. Around 12:00 to the police stations, after 12:00 the news goes out. There is an assault, gunfire, we have witnesses. I am the one who was told that the car doors were locked. How many reasons can I count for panic? I count a lot of crimes," she had stated.