When 26-year-old Carolina Wilga set off into the Australian outback in late June, she was chasing solitude, not headlines. The German backpacker had been exploring Western Australia in her self-sufficient van, travelling through small towns and remote bushland. But what was meant to be an off-grid adventure soon turned into a harrowing ordeal, one that would leave authorities fearing the worst, and a nation holding its breath. Twelve days after she disappeared, Wilga was found alive, battered by the elements but walking, quite literally, out of the wilderness. A van left behind Wilga last made contact with friends on June 29 after passing through the small towns of Toodyay and Dowerin, heading north-west towards Beacon. Days later, when no one had heard from her, a missing person’s alert was issued, sparking a search effort that intensified with each passing day, a The Guardian report said. On Thursday, Western Australia police located her abandoned Mitsubishi van deep inside the Karroun Hill nature reserve, about 150km from Beacon. The terrain was remote, the kind of country where even locals tread carefully. Inside the van, investigators found evidence of a determined struggle: Maxtrax recovery boards, bits of timber wedged under wheels, signs that Wilga had tried everything she could to free her bogged vehicle. But when it wouldn’t budge, she was forced to make an unthinkable decision, leave the shelter of her van and set out alone across the bush. Police believe this CCTV could be critical to new information in the nationwide search for a missing 26-year-old German backpacker. The footage shows her movements through Toodyay and Beacon on June 28 and 29 — the last time she was seen. @SBSNews @WA_Police #CarolinaWilga pic.twitter.com/2Tkvfyw9yW — Christopher Tan (@christophert77) July 10, 2025 Walking into the unknown WA Police Acting Inspector Jessica Securo would later describe the area as hostile and disorienting, filled with rocky outcrops and criss-crossed by faint tracks. “Although there’s a number of tracks, you can see how it would be easy to become lost,” she said, as quoted by The Guardian. What followed were 12 days of survival in an unforgiving landscape. Temperatures in the region were dropping to freezing at night. The outback was thick with mosquitoes and lacking in shelter, food, and water sources. “She’s obviously been through an amazing journey,” said WA Police’s Martin Glynn, as per The Guardian, “a trauma no doubt will be a testimony to her bravery in those circumstances out there.” On Friday evening, just as hope was starting to fade, a member of the public spotted Wilga walking on a bush track, not far from where she had first gone missing. She was brought to Beacon before being airlifted to a hospital in Perth. 'Quite fragile, but alive' Wilga was described as "quite fragile", with numerous minor injuries and severe mosquito bites. Yet there were no signs of serious trauma, just the tell-tale signs of someone who had endured something extraordinary. “It’s really quite traumatic because you always go out with the best of hope that you will find the person,” Glynn said, The Guardian reported. “It’s just a great outcome for everyone involved,” Glynn added. Wilga’s family in Germany has been notified, and police continue to investigate the exact path she took and how far she travelled on foot. As of Friday, she had not spoken in detail to the police, but her condition was stable. The police believe Wilga got lost, then mechanically stranded, and eventually tried to find help on foot. Her van had solar panels and water, making it a relatively safe refuge, but it’s unclear how long she remained there before venturing out. A story still unfolding For now, Wilga’s survival is being described as nothing short of a miracle. Search teams had scoured the bushland with drones, thermal imaging, and dog squads. A “reflex search” just hours before her discovery had covered a 300-metre radius around her van. The fact that she was found alive, with no major injuries, in such an inhospitable part of the Australian outback, is being hailed as a testament to both human resilience and luck. “We still don’t know the full story,” Glynn said, as per The Guardian report. “But when we do hear it, I think it will be a remarkable one.” (With inputs from The Guardian, ABC, CNN)
