German tourist Carolina Wilga was found alive in Australia's remote Outback on Friday, 12 days after she went missing and a day after her abandoned van was discovered, police said. The last known sighting of the 26-year-old backpacker, and the last day family and friends heard from her, was June 29. She was seen at a general store in the tiny wheat farming town of Beacon, 200 miles northeast of the Western Australia state capital Perth, reports the AP. A member of the public found Wilga wandering on a forest trail late Friday, Western Australia Police Force Insp. Martin Glynn said.
She was in a "fragile" state but had no serious injuries and was flown to a hospital in Perth for treatment, Glynn told reporters. "I think once we do hear her story, it will be a remarkable story," Glynn said, adding it was a "great result" for the backpacker's family and those involved in the search. "You know, she's obviously coped in some amazing conditions," he said. "There's a very hostile environment out there, both from flora and fauna. It's a really, really challenging environment to cope in."
The reserve where Wilga was lost covers more than 740,000 acres. The Thursday-Friday overnight temperature was about 37 degrees Fahrenheit. A police helicopter spotted her van Thursday in wilderness in the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve, 22 miles north of Beacon, Glynn said. "Very difficult country. Huge area. So it's a miracle they've actually spotted the car," Glynn told reporters before she was found. Ground searchers on Friday scoured a heavily wooded radius of 1,000 feet beyond the van. Police assume Wilga's van, a 1995 Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon, became stuck in mud on the day she left Beacon, Glynn said.
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