Australian authorities said they found a 26-year-old German backpacker ‘safe and well’ after she had been missing in a remote part of the country’s northwest for almost two weeks.
Carolina Wilga, who vanished on June 29 from near the outback town of Beacon, about 254km north of Western Australia state capital Perth, was found by a passing motorist on a road in the region on Friday, police said.
“This is a huge relief for her family and all of her loved ones,” Detective Jessica Securo said yesterday in a media conference televised from Perth.
“To find Carolina safe and well is a fantastic result.”
Wilga was airlifted to a Perth hospital, where she was stable yesterday, authorities said.
The backpacker was ‘ravaged by mosquitoes’ during her time stranded in the hostile terrain and was found exhausted, dehydrated and with cuts and bruises, police said.
A large-scale search was initiated for Wilga after her vehicle was found abandoned in the state’s sparsely populated Wheatbelt region, which spans 154,862 square km.
Wilga planned to continue her travels in Australia once recovered, authorities said.
On Friday, the Western Australia (WA) Police Force confirmed on Facebook that Wilga – who has been backpacking around the country for the last two years – had been ‘located safe and well’ in the Wheatbelt region.
Police said that the Mitsubishi Delica driven by Wilga was ‘believed to have suffered mechanical issues,’ as per the Facebook post.
WA Police Inspector Martin Glynn told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that Wilga had been found walking along a bush track at the edge of the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve by a member of the public.
“As you can imagine from the trauma she’s suffered for the last few days, she’s been obviously through a great deal,” Glynn added.
The officer said that the backpacker ‘has a number of significant minor injuries’, 9News reported.
Glynn continued, “She does have some injuries, she’s been ravaged by mosquitoes, she’s been through an incredible journey of trauma,” the ABC stated.
“No doubt, (it) will be a testament to demonstrating her bravery in these circumstances,” he shared, per the outlet.
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