Unsolved Missing backpacker Carolina Wilga * FOUND

[Yellow Feathers]

This doesn’t look good.

Homicide detectives have joined the search and the vehicle appears to have left the road and is in bushland?

Missing backpacker’s van found abandoned in remote WA

Police have found the van belonging to a missing German backpacker who vanished in the Wheatbelt — but the young woman was not with the vehicle.

www.perthnow.com.au

 

[Kurve]

This doesn’t look good.

Homicide detectives have joined the search and the vehicle appears to have left the road and is in bushland?

Missing backpacker’s van found abandoned in remote WA

Police have found the van belonging to a missing German backpacker who vanished in the Wheatbelt — but the young woman was not with the vehicle.

www.perthnow.com.au

She looks prepared for the possibility of getting bogged but it's either brave or reckless to be driving off road out there as a female on her own.

It looks suspicious to me. If she'd walked off to get help, she should have easily been able to trek her way back to the main road without getting lost.

Not sure I understand what she would even be doing in there, it looks gnarly.

 

[Yellow Feathers]

She looks prepared for the possibility of getting bogged but it's either brave or reckless to be driving off road out there as a female on her own.

It looks suspicious to me. If she'd walked off to get help, she should have easily been able to trek her way back to the main road without getting lost.

Not sure I understand what she would even be doing in there, it looks gnarly.

That looks incredibly suspicious to me, too. Why would a young female take that kind of vehicle into the bush / off road. I imagine there’s a lot of sealed road out that way, and at the very least unsealed.

What if it wasn’t her trying to get the vehicle out is what I’m wondering.

 

[Kurve]

That looks incredibly suspicious to me, too. Why would a young female take that kind of vehicle into the bush / off road. I imagine there’s a lot of sealed road out that way, and at the very least unsealed.

What if it wasn’t her trying to get the vehicle out is what I’m wondering.

You're right, it may not have been her that left the vehicle there. It does have the look of being dumped.

It has 4WD capacity apparently but it sits low, I wouldn't have taken that in there.

I haven't been through Beacon but have been past it and up through the Pilbara, the roads are excellent and sealed all the way. Much better than outback Queensland. Some dirt roads and tracks off the mains but they were wide and well maintained.

 

[Paul Kersey]

Bad vibes.

 

[BonzaRam]

I don't believe there is enough information yet to assume foul play. Tourist do get stuck in remote areas not realising that help could be 100kms away if they breakdown or are injured in some way (snake bites etc).
The question for me at the moment is why did she leave the vehicle?, should never do that, it's easier spot a vehicle than a person out there, and why was the side door left open or was it the police that opened that whilst searching the vehicle?

Anyways I think we need more info before jumping to conclusions and let's hope she is found safe and well.

 

[BomberManU]

I don't believe there is enough information yet to assume foul play. Tourist do get stuck in remote areas not realising that help could be 100kms away if they breakdown or are injured in some way (snake bites etc).
The question for me at the moment is why did she leave the vehicle?, should never do that, it's easier spot a vehicle than a person out there, and why was the side door left open or was it the police that opened that whilst searching the vehicle?

Anyways I think we need more info before jumping to conclusions and let's hope she is found safe and well.

A tourist, but she'd been on the road here for two years.

 

[BomberManU]

Van had 'mechanical issues' apparently, but they weren't specified.
Her last contact/messages could be interpreted as a bit...alarming. Though, could also be completely normal:


At 7am that morning, Ms Wilga sent another person a text saying she was no longer going to drop off a book and a jerry can as she had "some stuff she needed to handle".

At 4:38pm the person received a voice message from Ms Wilga saying she was on the road and apologised for not dropping the items off.

The ABC has heard the voice message, in which a female voice says: “I just couldn’t wait anymore. Uggh. I felt tired.”

 

[BonzaRam]

Van had 'mechanical issues' apparently, but they weren't specified.
Her last contact/messages could be interpreted as a bit...alarming. Though, could also be completely normal:


At 7am that morning, Ms Wilga sent another person a text saying she was no longer going to drop off a book and a jerry can as she had "some stuff she needed to handle".

At 4:38pm the person received a voice message from Ms Wilga saying she was on the road and apologised for not dropping the items off.

The ABC has heard the voice message, in which a female voice says: “I just couldn’t wait anymore. Uggh. I felt tired.”

Those messages were from day before she reached Beacon (3 1/2 hr drive from Perth) and one of her friend also stated that she was eager to leave Perth. Read what ya will into them but I don't see anything sinister in them either, but hey the media has a story to sell...

Missing backpacker’s abandoned van found in WA outback

Police say they've located the vehicle of German tourist Carolina Wilga, but are still searching for the missing backpacker.

www.abc.net.au

 

[BomberManU]

Those messages were from day before she reached Beacon (3 1/2 hr drive from Perth) and one of her friend also stated that she was eager to leave Perth. Read what ya will into them but I don't see anything sinister in them either, but hey the media has a story to sell...

Missing backpacker’s abandoned van found in WA outback

Police say they've located the vehicle of German tourist Carolina Wilga, but are still searching for the missing backpacker.

www.abc.net.au

Context is everything of course, so will depend on what has happened.
Doesn't mention how the van was left - locked, open, personal gear still in there, etc.

 

[largebus]

Quite a few people have lost their lives out there after their vehicle breaks down and they just wander off. Highly unlikely this is another Ivan Milat/Wolf Creek scenario, it's 50 km from the nearest town.

 

[BomberManU]

Police have now ruled out foul play.

 

[Kurve]

A tourist, but she'd been on the road here for two years.

Also working on and off I believe, that's long enough to understand the vastness and difficulties she might get in to out there.

 

[Kurve]

What was she thinking?

WA Police Acting Inspector Jessica Securo said on Friday the search was concentrated around the vehicle, which was found a significant distance away from any tracks.

Missing backpacker's broken-down van found 35km off-track in dense bush

Police say there's no evidence of foul play in the case of German backpacker Carolina Wilga, who is feared to have become lost in WA's rugged outback after abandoning her van.

www.abc.net.au

 

[largebus]

Also working on and off I believe, that's long enough to understand the vastness and difficulties she might get in to out there.

Plenty of locals underestimate how remote outback WA is.

 

[Yellow Feathers]

So she’s wandered off into the outback. Surely people know not to do this?

 

[Kurve]

So she’s wandered off into the outback. Surely people know not to do this?

And left no apparent trail for anyone to follow, or a note. Nothing about UHF radio or a satellite phone.

 

[BonzaRam]

The harsh truth is very few understand for just how harsh the outback is and what dangers they really face.

"The opposite of Australian Outback survival is obviously death, and sadly the Outback does claim an average of 40 lives a year. Sounds lethal, doesn't it? Until you look at the details.

The deaths that receive widespread publicity are the deaths of people who got lost and perished because they made one or two crucial mistakes. Usually these mistakes are not taking enough water in the first place, and not staying with their vehicle when they became stuck or lost. (More about that later.)" <<< that is the most important part of surviving

Australian Outback Survival

Surviving in the Australian Outback is easy, I say. To stay alive you only need to follow these three simple Outback survival rules.

www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com

Plenty have survived a long time out there so there is still hope, especially because she would know more than most about the dangers from work experiences.

 

[Yellow Feathers]

“Her vehicle was located at least about 35 kilometres inland from any main tracks, so it is dense around there.”

WTF?

 

[Frank Bunn]

If she had wandered off from her vehicle wouldn't dogs be able to track her down?

If I was travelling in remote areas I would be taking a Starlink Mini. Only about 26 per cent of WA has mobile phone or radio coverage but with Starlink you could make video calls or send emails from anywhere. The WA police have been using them on their regional vehicles for a couple of years.

 

[Kurve]

The harsh truth is very few understand for just how harsh the outback is and what dangers they really face.

"The opposite of Australian Outback survival is obviously death, and sadly the Outback does claim an average of 40 lives a year. Sounds lethal, doesn't it? Until you look at the details.

The deaths that receive widespread publicity are the deaths of people who got lost and perished because they made one or two crucial mistakes. Usually these mistakes are not taking enough water in the first place, and not staying with their vehicle when they became stuck or lost. (More about that later.)" <<< that is the most important part of surviving

Australian Outback Survival

Surviving in the Australian Outback is easy, I say. To stay alive you only need to follow these three simple Outback survival rules.

www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com

Really good advice in that article.

I'd also suggest an extended red sand flag so if you get a bit disoriented, you can climb up just a bit and locate your vehicle easier. Being safety conscious driving through those areas, I'm usually always in really bright block coloured shirts.

If she's passed out anywhere and wearing the clothes she was in at the servo, she might not be so easy to spot from the air.

 

[Plugger35]

I've got a feeling this won't end well.

The cops don't seem to have too many clues so far and the longer she is missing the less chance that she will be found alive.

One thing in her favour is that it's winter so the days won't be too hot if she is out in the open but the nights will be very cold.

I don't know why a young female from a foreign country would take a 4wd vehicle out to such remote terrain by herself, madness.

Also if she was lost and not abducted by someone she should have just stayed with her vehicle, a much better chance to be found.

 

[BonzaRam]

GOOD NEWS

"Police believe they have found missing backpacker Carolina Wilga alive.
7NEWS reports a stranger found her walking along a bush track on Friday afternoon.
Officers are now working to confirm her identity."

ALIVE: Missing backpacker found in WA outback

German backpacker Carolina Wilga was found by a member of the public injured and ravaged by mosquitoes but, miraculously, alive after 12 days missing in the outback.

thewest.com.au

 

[Plugger35]

Well it looks like it could be a rare good ending for a foreign tourist that has gone missing in the outback.

 

[Cyber_punk]

Well now it goes from a potential tragedy to a cool story she gets to share the rest of her life. Very lucky girl.