CHENNAI: A 19-year-old youth from Tiruvallur district who was deemed missing was found dead, and his decomposed body was recovered from an abandoned building in Kakkalur on Friday. Police suspect that he was murdered.

The deceased was identified as S Sankar of Periyakuppam. According to the complaint filed by his mother, Lakshmi Selvakumar, Sankar left home on September 9 with his friends, S Suman (21) of Tiruvallur, P Jai Siva (22) of Kakkalur, and S Sailesh (21) of Pullarambakkam.

The woman initially did not suspect anything as he often stayed away with friends. But, as he did not return the next day either, she filed a missing person complaint.

On Friday, police recovered the body, which was later identified by Lakshmi at the hospital mortuary. Preliminary investigations have suggested that Sankar was murdered and his body was dumped inside the abandoned building.

Tiruvallur Taluk police registered a case of murder and launched a search for the three friends, who were last seen with him. Further investigations are on.