Missing German backpacker Carolina Wilga has been found alive almost two weeks after disappearing in the Australian Outback.
Police confirmed Ms Wilga had been found “safe and well” on Friday, according to Sky News Australia.
It comes after a major search was launched for the 26-year-old.
On Thursday, Ms Wilga’s van was discovered in wilderness in the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve around 100km (60 miles) north of Beacon – the town where the backpacker was last seen at a general store on 29 June.
Carolina Wilga. Pic: Western Australia Police
Police believed the backpacker became lost in the 300,000-hectare reserve after her van broke down.
Beacon, a wheat farming town 320km (200 miles) northeast of the Western Australia (WA) state capital Perth, is in the remote Wheatbelt region and had a population of 123 at the time of the 2021 census.
Western Australia Police Force Acting Inspector Jessica Securo said: “The terrain is outback country and there’s large rocky outcrops. Although there’s a number of tracks, you can see how it would be easy to become lost or disorientated in that area if you didn’t know it well.”
An aerial shot of the van after it was discovered. Pic: AP
Read more from Sky News:
Ten children ‘killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open’
Four killed after Houthi rebels sink ship
Ms Wilga’s van, a 1995 Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon, was 35 kilometres (22 miles) from any major tracks, the police inspector added.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Tap to follow
Ms Wilga has been travelling in Australia for two years and working at Western Australian mine sites.
Her mother Katja Will, who lives in the city of Castrop-Rauxel in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, had appealed for public help to find her daughter.
#Carolina #Wilga #Missing #German #backpacker #alive #major #search #Western #Australia #World #News
