BREAKING NEWS Miraculous twist in desperate search for missing teen Darcy Deefholts who disappeared while surfing
Darcy Deefholts, 19, was last seen fishing with his surfboard beside him at a breakwall on Wooli Beach in New South Wales ' northern rivers region.
His bike, clothes, and shoes were then found about 5km north at a local surf spot.
Rescue volunteers and emergency services immediately launched a search effort, calling on beach walkers and drone operators from the public to assist.
But on Thursday morning, Darcy was found about 12km out at sea on North Solitary Island.
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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Meet the reformed biker and convict playing at the Open
In the few days Ryan Peake has already been in town, Royal Portrush has been everything that he expected. 'Tremendous, unbelievable,' the Australian said here on Sunday. 'It's every pro golfer's dream to play in the Open and make their debut at a venue like this. I guess, it's just that my journey has been different to the rest.' Indeed, the particular route the 32-year-old has taken to this Dunluce Links course made headlines around the globe in March when he qualified by winning the New Zealand Open. 'After five years in prison, ex-gang member qualifies for British major' was the gist of them and so Peake suddenly became big news. 'I knew I would [be big news] because this won't ever happen again, will it?' he said. 'A bikie who did time, playing in an Open… It's a one-off and I expect attention. That's no problem. But it would be great to be known for my golf.' If that is a big ask – and considering he was convicted for at least two counts of GBH, it certainly is at least that – then Cam Smith, the former world No 1 who won this championship three years ago, believes his long-time friend has the talent and the wherewithal. When Peake was a teenager he was rated as the nation's prodigy alongside Smith and the pair duly played in the same Australian junior teams. They also roomed together on those trips. 'He was definitely always one of the best juniors,' Smith said last week. 'He obviously just got involved in some stuff that he probably wishes he hadn't. But he was always one of the best and had one of the best mentalities on the course. He was a really aggressive player, but if it didn't work out, nothing really bothered him. It's good to see him where he should be.' A decade ago the Perth man was somewhere as far away from dreamland as can be imagined. He was serving time in Hakea Prison, an institution that one review criticised thus: 'The cells are small, unhygienic, and overcrowded, with reports of pest infestations and inadequate sanitation.' Another labelled the maximum security jail in Perth as 'cruel and humiliating'. 'Hakea' was named after a local genus of beautiful flora, but inmates say the only thing they saw bloom was inhumanity. The prison has specialist management units known as 'punishment units', which have been described by the state regulator as 'outdated and not fit for purpose' because of the intense psychological damage inflicted as well as the inability of guards to monitor. Peake was ashamed and would not allow his mother to visit, but his father, Mel, a bricklayer turned greenkeeper, insisted. Fortunately Peake had friendly company, as there were also members of the Rebels inside, the infamous outlaw motorcycle club he officially joined when he was 21 and already a struggling pro. Peake's mental health was a mess and there had been addictions. The mini-Tours can be a desperately lonely climb and fraternity often exists only for the successful who can skip along together to the big show. 'My life had fallen into depression, I lost all self-esteem, I didn't know who I was, lost all direction in my life,' Peake told Golf Digest recently, in an extraordinary profile. 'Where I was at that stage in my life, it [the Rebels membership] was the only thing that brought me comfort. I felt like I belonged.' There are rules and conditions in every club and although Peake has returned to the environs where they are can be wonderfully petty, gloriously irrelevant and hard to comprehend, in the Rebels they could be deadly serious. 'What happened … I can't say it was just one night, one mistake,' Peake said. 'It was years of build-up.' Golf Digest expands on one night where, seemingly in self-defence, Peake assaulted a member of a rival gang who was preparing to attack. But another report detailed Peake being part of a six-man group laying into a defenceless individual. The fact is the crimes had built up and the half-decade prison sentence had to be fulfilled. Sport, like gangs, remember their own and through his stretch, he received messages from peers. Yet when Ritchie Smith, his former coach who has guided Minjee Lee to major glory and her brother, Min Woo, to PGA Tour success, informed him that golf was still his path back to the straight and narrow and not an electrician apprenticeship, Peake blessedly took heed. He was released in 2019, when Portrush last hosted the Open and so much of his life seems circular it could be scripted. However, the lead character himself, does not wish to be a role model or a 'celebrity' who has achieved their fame the wrong way. He does not want to forget his past and cannot begin to, and he knows that with a DP World Tour membership secured for next year – courtesy of finishing second in the Australasian Tour Order of Merit – he will have visa issues. But for now, with his British passport – 'don't ask me exactly where my dad comes from, because I can't remember, but it's somewhere in England,' he told me – there was no problem this time and he has his fantasy shot at the Claret Jug. And as they tend to, the Aussies are wagoning around this affable left-hander, standing at 6ft 4in and covered in tattoos. On Sunday, Peake played with Lee, and Cam Smith is also ready to link up again with his old hombre for a practice round and a waltz down memory fairway. 'I can't wait to see him at Portrush,' Smith said. 'Growing up with him, I knew the good fella in him. He was always really nice to me, always really funny and a laugh to be around. Hopefully he plays well, and although I'm sure that him simply being there would be good enough, I know he'll want to play well. And Peaky can really play.'
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Backpacker found alive after 12 days lost in Oz outback breaks silence to reveal dramatic reason she abandoned her car
A GERMAN backpacker who spend nearly two weeks lost in the Australian outback has broken her silence following her rescue. Carolina Wilga thanked her rescuers as she revealed the reason she left the safety of her vehicle in rural Western Australia. 9 9 9 9 The backpacker has been recovering in a Perth hospital after her gruelling ordeal stuck in the harsh terrain of the outback. She spent 11 nights wandering barefoot through the wilderness after abandoning her van when it got stuck in Karroun Hill Nature Reserve. The 26-year-old was found in a chance encounter by farmer Tania Henley on Friday. But the backpacker has now shared the reason why she left her van behind to spend nearly two weeks on a perilous trek through the outback. Wilga revealed she had lost control of her vehicle and hit her head when it crashed, leaving her in a state of confusion. She said: "Some people might wonder why I even left my car, even though I had water, food, and clothing there. "The answer is: I lost control of the car and rolled down a slope. In the crash, I hit my head significantly. "As a result of the accident, I left my car in a state of confusion and got lost. "I am simply beyond grateful to have survived." Before her disappearance, Wilga was last seen June 29 at a general store in Beacon, 186 miles north-east of Perth. Missing backpacker found ALIVE after nearly two weeks wandering Oz bushland She was then seen driving away in a black and silver Mitsubishi Delica van. Having spent the last two years backpacking across Australia, she recently worked at mine sites in regional WA. Her chance rescue came when she was spotted walking along on an unsealed access road. Wilga had spent nearly two weeks with minimal supplies, even resorting to drinking water from puddles and seeking shelter in caves to survive the outback's unforgiving conditions. Cops had found her bogged down vehicle less than 24 hours before she was rescued. Wilga shared her thanks to her rescuers from "the depth of my soul". 9 9 She said: "I am deeply impressed by the courage, helpfulness, and warmth that has been shown to me here. "Western Australia has taught me what it really means to be part of a true community. "Here, humanity, solidarity, and care for one another are what truly matter — and in the end, that's what counts most. "I am certain that I survived only thanks to this incredible outpouring of support. "The thought of all the people who believed in me, searched for me, and kept hoping for me gave me the strength to carry on during my darkest moments. "For this, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart." Bush survival expert Kelli Jackson told ABC Radio Perth that anyone caught in a similar situation should always stay with their vehicle. "It's no surprise that people leave their vehicle," she said. "If you've been through any emergency situation, a car accident or something like that, you might remember how things go in slow motion." She added that the shock people feel can make them do "really weird things" like throwing their gear away or running in a random direction. 9 9 9
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
German lost in Australian outback 'beyond grateful' to be found
A backpacker who survived nearly two weeks lost in Western Australia's outback has said she is "simply beyond grateful to have survived".Caroline Wilga, a 26-year-old German national, was rescued on Friday after spending 11 freezing nights alone and lost in the survived by drinking from puddles and sheltering in a cave, police her first public statement since being rescued, Ms Wilga said she had hit her head after losing control of her van, causing her to exit the vehicle in a state of confusion. She was spotted by a driver and airlifted to a hospital in Perth, where she is Wilga thanked the medical staff, German consulate and all the people who had helped search for her, in a statement to Western Australia Police posted on Instagram."I want to express a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart – a thank you that truly comes from the depth of my soul," she said."Some people might wonder why I even left my car, even though I had water, food, and clothing there," Ms Wilga said she "lost control of the car and rolled down a slope", hitting her head "significantly" in the subsequent crash. "As a result of the accident, I left my car in a state of confusion and got lost," she added."Previously, I didn't know where my place was in a culture on the other side of the world to my own, but now, I feel a part of it. I am deeply impressed by the courage, helpfulness, and warmth that has been shown to me here."Western Australia has taught me what it really means to be part of a true community. Here, humanity, solidarity, and care for one another are what truly matter – and in the end, that's what counts most."She was found walking barefoot by motorist Tania Henley - whom Ms Wilga described as her "saviour and angel" - more than 30km away from where she had abandoned her van, on a scarcely used track north of Beacon. Ms Henley told Australia's public broadcaster ABC that she saw Ms Wilga waving by the side of the road, and she appeared to be in a "fragile state", suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, insect bites and an injured foot. "Everything in this bush is very prickly. I just can't believe that she survived. She had no shoes on, she'd wrapped her foot up," Ms Henley her rescue, Ms Wilga was last seen at a general store in the town of Beacon, Western Australia, in her van on 29 June."I am certain that I survived only thanks to this incredible outpouring of support," she said."The thought of all the people who believed in me, searched for me, and kept hoping for me gave me the strength to carry on during my darkest moments," she said. The rescue was down to "sheer luck", acting police inspector Jessica Securo said in a news conference.
