The breathtaking detail that makes missing backpacker's survival after two weeks lost in the outback even MORE of a miracle
Carolina Wilga, 26, had been living and working in Australia for about two years and had recently set off to explore regional WA when she was reported missing.
Two days into her trip, friends and family lost contact and authorities issued pleas for information after she was last seen on June 29 at a general store in Beacon, a small town about 300km northeast of Perth.
But on Friday afternoon, a member of the public found her limping along bush track at the edge of the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve where her van was found the day before.
Ms Wilga, who suffered minor injuries and was 'ravaged by mosquitoes', was filmed approaching a plane that would airlift her to Perth Hospital.
But, while her hair was in a top knot and she wore a large sweatshirt, she seemed to be missing a shoe to the alarm of viewers.
'I think once we do hear her story, it will be a remarkable story,' WA Police Inspector Martin Glynn told reporters.
'She's coped in some amazing conditions. (It's a) very hostile environment out there.'
Before entering the plane, she could be seen moving slowly and leaning against the door.
'As you can imagine from the trauma she's suffered for the last few days, she's been obviously through a great deal,' Insp. Glynn said.
'She's obviously in quite a fragile condition at the moment,' he said.
He said her family had been informed straight away after she was located.
At 1.10pm on Thursday, WA Police discovered Ms Wilga's Mitsubishi Delica van abandoned in the Karroun Hill area, about 100km north of where she was last seen.
In a press conference just before Ms Wilga was found on Friday, Insp Glynn said the young woman appeared to have carried out 'extensive efforts' to free the vehicle after it became bogged.
'She'd used MAXTRAX and pieces of wood to try to free the vehicle from its location but unfortunately was unsuccessful,' he said.
'Quite frankly it's really inhospitable ground to move through easily, and as I said, it has rained recently, there are wet spots and vehicles will get bogged often.'
Timeline of the disappearance
Ms Wilga's friend saw her leave the Sundance Backpackers hostel in Fremantle on June 28.
Her friend Denise Kullick told German media Ms Wilga had planned to travel with a friend to a seaside location to become a yoga teacher - but ended up setting off alone.
Another friend, in Australia, was also in contact with Ms Wilga twice on the same day, the first was a text message at 7am.
In the message, Ms Wilga explained she would not be able to drop off a book and a jerry can as she had 'some stuff she needed to handle'.
CCTV footage captured Ms Wilga driving into a petrol station at 4.28pm on Stirling Terrace in Toodyay - about 90km northeast of Perth.
Ms Wilga parked, exited her van and filled it with petrol before heading inside the service station to pay.
At 4.38pm, the friend received a voice message from Ms Wilga in which she was heard saying: 'I just couldn't wait anymore. Ugh. I felt tired'.
Shortly after, at 4.41pm, Ms Wilga left the petrol station.
Police believed Ms Wilga departed Toodyay and embarked on the 230km journey northeast, stopping at Dowerin, on the way to Beacon.
June 29 – Ms Wilga is last seen
Ms Wilga was last seen on CCTV footage taken from a general store in Beacon, about 300km northeast of Perth in the Wheatbelt region, at 12.10pm on June 29.
She was spotted wearing ripped blue baggy jeans, a cream long-sleeve jumper and a similar coloured scarf.
The young backpacker was captured peering into the store and walking around the property.
About five minutes later, she got back into her van and left. Police believed she travelled to Wialki, a further 25km east of Beacon.
June 30 to July 9 - Ms Wilga makes no contact
From June 30, friends and family were not able to contact Ms Wilga, nor were there any sightings of the young traveller.
Police issued a missing person alert on July 7, with details of her disappearance and an appeal for information or sightings of Ms Wilga.
On July 9, Western Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch told media police were 'very concerned' for Ms Wilga's welfare.
Detectives from the homicide squad were also called in to help find the missing backpacker.
Commissioner Blanch added her disappearance was not being treated as a murder 'at this point'.
'They are investigating, not that it's a homicide at this point, but we want our very best capabilities to investigate something that is very concerning to us,' Commissioner Blanch said.
It was believed her phone had been switched off, police said.
The police air wing also joined the 'very large search and rescue' operation, with officers scouring the immense Wheatbelt region for clues to her whereabouts.
July 10 - Ms Wilga's van is found
Police located Ms Wilga's black and silver 1995 Mitsubishi Delica van in Karroun Hill at 1.10pm on Thursday.
The van was found abandoned, more than 50km north of Wialki, with police believing the vehicle had suffered mechanical issues.
Ms Wilga was not found.
Police shared a photo of the van showing orange recovery boards under the back wheels, which are devices used to help with traction for a vehicle stuck in mud or sand.
July 11 - Ms Wilga is found
Police said she may have wandered into the outback after her van broke down in Karroun Hill.
Police ruled out foul play.
'(Her disappearance) is unexplained behaviour ... and we are taking it very seriously,' Sergeant Venn said.
'There is no indication that there's any third party involvement in her disappearance but our minds are open to any line of inquiry or any information that people bring forward to us.'
She was then found on Friday afternoon by a member of the public walking along a bush track.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Footy legend's partner gives a shattering account of his last moments as she tried to save his life with CPR as meth killed him: 'I was screaming at him to keep his eyes open'
The partner of former AFL star Adam Hunter has recalled the harrowing final moments of his life after he overdosed on drugs in February. Hunter, 43, was a premiership hero with the West Coast Eagles in 2006 – but he also battled drug addiction for decades, including during his decorated playing days. A coronial inquiry has pinpointed meth–induced heart failure as the cause of his death. Latisha Yacoub recalled frantically administering CPR to Hunter on the night of February 4. 'I was screaming at him to keep his eyes open,' she said. 'He was looking at me. He couldn't move anything except his head. 'I said, "Just don't die on me". That was the last time he looked at me and then he closed his eyes and I started CPR.' The WA Coroner believes Hunter's ongoing drug use exacerbated his heart complications, which included cardiac hypertrophy – a thickening of the walls of the heart – and coronary artery disease. Hunter's drug use was no secret – and due to his addiction, he had multiple houses repossessed. He also died bankrupt after selling most of his football memorabilia to pay drug dealers. The couple initially met when Hunter was drafted to West Coast as a teenager – but she soon suspected she 'wasn't the only woman in his life'. They reconciled in August 2022 and Hunter pledged never to hurt Yacoub again. In December that year, Hunter moved into Yacoub's house with her two children in Bunbury, south of Perth. The fallen footy star worked occasionally as a truck driver, but the majority of his pay 'went on drugs', Yacoub said. She also revealed Hunter previously told her he avoided drug testers while he was playing with the Eagles by shaving his head so they couldn't perform hair-follicle tests. Hunter's drug use – mainly meth – increased after injuries forced his retirement from the AFL in 2009. 'Even when he was playing (state league in Western Australia) for South Bunbury, he would treat it like the AFL,' she said. 'He would weigh himself relentlessly, on game day up to eight times. He was using steroids and any supplement he could find.' Yacoub said Hunter was using elective androgen receptor modulators, which help promote muscle and bone growth. He was also taking the fat–burning drug clenbuterol. 'He didn't want to age,' she told the West Australian. 'He would try anything to stay young. He wanted to be that person in the 2006 grand final.' Yacoub – a qualified nurse – believes Hunter took meth on the day he died. 'I had just come back from Bali with my children,' she recalled. 'We had a conversation about how I couldn't have things keep on the way they were. West Coast Eagles premiership–winning coach John Worsfold paid an emotional tribute to Hunter, stating he would have loved to have played alongside the defender 'He said 'I really want to make things work'. (Next) I heard a noise. I went to the bedroom and he was on the floor. There was a little bit of foam coming out of his mouth and I thought he had overdosed. 'I was screaming, "What have you done, what have you done?" I lifted his head up and I screamed at him to open his eyes. I kept asking what he had done so I knew what I was dealing with. 'He opened his eyes. I said I was calling the ambulance and he shook his head because he had always said he never wanted to wind up in hospital if something went wrong. 'I said, "I don't care, I need help because I don't know what you have done". I asked him to lift his arms and his legs. He had no motor response, no verbal response. 'My eldest was on the phone to the ambulance. I didn't stop CPR. My son said Adam was turning blue. I knew he had gone. He had turned really blue. And then he turned bloodshot purple.' Speaking at Hunter's funeral, Yacoub labelled the former footballer 'my lover, my best friend, my soulmate and the absolute love of my life'. 'We've had our fair share of ups and downs but no matter what we both knew that there'd never be anybody else,' she said at the service. 'Some people wait a lifetime to experience the love we share.' Following Hunter's death, Yacoub's relationship with his grieving family became strained. 'He didn't have a will... but when he died, his family made it clear to me that I would be looked after because of all the money I had spent on him over the past few years,' she said in the coronial inquiry. 'But now things have got very uncomfortable between us.' Star swingman Hunter played 151 games for the Eagles over a decade-long AFL career from 2000-09, before injuries led to his premature retirement. Hunter kicked a career-high 29 goals in 2006, including a crucial major in the final stages of that year's epic one-point grand-final win over the Sydney Swans.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Man arrested after Stone of Destiny glass broken at museum
The stone returned for permanent display in Scotland in 1996 at Edinburgh Castle and last year it moved to its current home in Perth. A spokesperson for Culture Perth and Kinross said: "We can confirm there was an incident at Perth Museum where a man was arrested. "Perth Museum was evacuated as a precaution and there was no damage to any artefacts on display." "We are assisting Police Scotland with their inquiries." A Police Scotland said the 35-year-old man would appear at Perth Sheriff Court on Monday.
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- The Guardian
Search for missing Briton continues in Greek resort
A mammoth search-and-rescue operation for a British woman last seen lounging on a sunbed in Greece has intensified days after her 'mysterious' disappearance. The Hellenic coastguard, backed by a flotilla of pleasure craft and fishing boats, has fanned across the waters off Ofrynio beach near the northern town of Kavala, where Michele Bourda, 59, went missing on 1 August. 'The search is very much on, with a patrol vessel and other recreational boats out scouring the seas all along the Strymonian Gulf,' said a coastguard official. 'Three days may have elapsed, but there are no plans to call off the operation yet.' While vessels combed the sea on Monday, police also continued an extensive search on land, authorities said. Bourda, described as a 'temporary resident' of Serres in northern Greece, was reported missing by her Greek husband on Friday after he awoke from a nap on a sunbed to find his wife had vanished from the adjacent lounger, though her belongings were still there. When authorities failed to find Bourda, LifeLine Hellas, a Greek missing persons charity, issued a silver alert – often activated when missing people are suffering from Altzheimer's and other forms of dementia – prompting a large-scale and coordinated search by rescue services. In its appeal for help, the charity described Bourda as about 5ft 6in tall and of slim build. 'On the day she went missing, she was wearing a swimsuit with decorative stones, yellow water shoes, and red plastic sunglasses. Her life is in danger,' it said. The British embassy in Athens issued a similar statement. As Monday drew to a close, Greek officials said that no decision had yet been made about whether or not to continue the search-and-rescue operation on Tuesday. 'Hope dies last,' said one. 'Any scenario would be guessing at this point, and it is too early to make any decision.' Even if the coastguard operation was brought to a halt, the search would continue on land, and regular patrol boats would still comb the seas as part of their daily activities. Bourda is not the first Briton to go missing in Greece this summer. Last month, another silver alert was activated after the family of 60-year-old Jay Arnold notified police that he had vanished while holidaying on the southern Aegean isle of Karpathos. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Arnold, who was staying in the village of Olympos in the north of the island, was last seen by a local woman from whom he had been renting accommodation. Police were alerted when he failed to check out of his room on the day he was due to leave. Though his rented car was found parked and locked, authorities have since described the search for him as 'going cold'. 'We've had dogs brought in, drones, specially trained police and volunteers out there looking and we've found nothing,' local police officer Panayiotis Fotopoulos said. 'It's very odd, a total mystery, that absolutely nothing should be found after so many weeks. We're not ruling out that perhaps he fell into the sea.' Last June, the celebrity doctor and TV presenter Michael Mosley was found dead five days after he went missing on the remote Greek island of Symi. An inquest determined he had likely died as a result of accidental heatstroke after getting lost as he attempted to return from the beach to his lodgings from a beach on the island. With its crystal clear blue waters and golden sands, Ofrynio beach is among the most picturesque places in northern Greece, which, like the rest of the country, has been hit by record temperatures in recent weeks.
