A couple met and fell in love online. But when they finally met in person, tragedy struck.

A couple met and fell in love online. But when they finally met in person, tragedy struck.

A man who travelled overseas to visit his long-distance girlfriend watched her plummet to her death from a cliff top just one day after they finally met in person.

James Nichols, 23, and his 21-year-old girlfriend Cheynne Holloway had met online. Tragically, Nichols watched Holloway fall from a cliff in January after the rock beneath her gave way.

They had been taking photographs and watching the sunset.

Nichols, a photographer, was setting up a tripod as Ms Holloway stood on a large rock when the tragedy occurred.

She fell more than 15 metres.

Mr Nichols performed CPR on his South African girlfriend for 20 minutes until paramedics arrived in a desperate – and unsuccessful – attempt to save her.

Before he returned home, Mr Nichols visited Johannesburg’s Botanical Gardens and collected a stone that Ms Holloway had earlier recorded herself leaving for him in the hopes that they would come and reclaim it together.

Now, the incredibly sentimental memento has been stolen by heartless thieves.

Manchester Evening News reports Mr Nichols is offering a £300 reward for the return of his precious rock, which was stolen from a backpack in his car in Manchester last week.

“It’s something I would cherish for the rest of my life,” he said.

Facebook tributes for Ms Holloway, a bassist for band Burning Blue, described her as a “beautiful girl”, an “amazing person” and a “precious friend”.