FRESNO — After one last effort by an elite cadaver-searching dive team, the hunt for the remains of two young people swept over a waterfall as they posed for a photo in Yosemite National Park last July has been called off for good.

It’s the first time in park officials’ memory that the low-water season has ended with a body still missing in water at the national park, where the swift Merced River and cascading falls tumbling across sleek granite monoliths have proven to be deadly attractions, said park spokesman Scott Gediman.

The start of the rain and snow season in the central Sierra Nevada park has begun to swell the Merced River, which means that the opportunity to find the bodies likely has passed until next summer.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” said Virginia Badal, whose 21-year-old daughter Ramina was one of the victims. “We’re still so sad.”

Ramina Badal, Ninos Yacoub, 27, and Hormiz David, 22, were swept over the 317-foot Vernal Fall after stepping into the deceptively swift Merced River to pose for a photograph. They were part of a group of friends from a close-knit community of Central Valley Christians from the Middle East who had tackled the strenuous and popular Mist Trail on a hot day, then stopped at the top of the waterfall to cool off.

The National Park Service spent at least $60,000 in the effort, Gediman said.

“We don’t want them to stop,” Virginia Badal said, unsure about what else could be done. “I don’t know.”

The three deaths contributed to making 2011 one of the deadliest on record for Yosemite National Park, where treacherous weather conditions on Half Dome and along water-swollen rivers caught visitors unprepared. Thirteen people were killed in park accidents and another seven died there of natural causes.

Park officials said they fear that the bodies were swept downstream, possibly even out of the park, and are snagged under the giant boulders that create the endless whitecaps along scenic stretches of the river.

“Obviously finding these bodies is going to help these families have closure,” said Gediman. “As the season comes to a close, we do feel badly for the families that we could not provide that for them. However, we feel good that we’ve made a tremendous effort.”