Missing Hiker's Phone Found 2 Years Later

Two years after a Belgian woman vanished in Tasmania's remote northwest, police finally have a new piece of evidence: her phone. Friends and family of 31-year-old Celine Cremer, aided by adventure filmmaker Rob Parsons, found the device Saturday near Philosopher Falls, a rainforest waterfall where investigators believe she went for a short walk in June 2023, reports CBS News. Aside from her car, discovered 10 days after she was last seen in the town of Waratah, it's the first physical trace of Cremer uncovered in the rugged area.

Police inspector Andrew Hanson said phone data and the location where it was found support the idea that Cremer left the marked trail as daylight waned, possibly using an app to attempt a more direct route back to her car. "We suspect she dropped her phone and continued without it, becoming disoriented in dense terrain," he said. The phone will undergo further forensic analysis, and police will join the independent team in the search for remains, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Cremer was reported missing on June 26, 2023, after an intense cold snap brought subzero temperatures, snow, and heavy rain to the region. Medical experts advised at the time that her survival in those conditions over multiple days was unlikely, and an initial two-week search, followed by periodic returns to the site, turned up nothing.