Emergency services searching for a missing German backpacker whose abandoned van was found in remote bushland believe she walked away from her vehicle.
The search for a missing German backpacker has ramped up after her abandoned van was found in remote outback bushland.
Carolina Wilga was last seen in the general store in the Western Australian wheatbelt town of Beacon about noon on June 29, some 300km north-east of Perth.
The 26-year-old, who had been travelling and working in Australia for about two years, told friends she intended to explore regional WA.
Her disappearance triggered a nationwide search after a desperate plea for help from her mother amid concerns for her daughter’s safety.
Police on Thursday found Wilga’s Mitsubishi van about 150km from Beacon in the Karroun Hill area.
It is believed to have suffered mechanical issues. The area has been described as remote and inhospitable.
WA Police Acting Inspector Jessica Securo said an inexperienced person could easily become lost in the remote location.
“The terrain is outback country and there are large, rocky outcrops,” she told ABC News on Friday.
“So, although there are a number of tracks, you can see how it would be easy to become lost or disoriented in that area if you didn’t know it well.
“It is dense around there.”
Securo said the van was at least about 35km inland from any main tracks.
Police are using aircraft to search for Wilga due to the difficult terrain.
“The search has resumed in that Karroun Hill area. It will be concentrating around her vehicle and tracks that offshoot that area,” Securo said.
“Our aerial support is our best chances of finding her.”
Forensic officers are inspecting the van to determine why it was abandoned and what Wilga may have been able to carry with her after she left it.
“It appears that as she was driving, she’s likely to become lost, and then the car has suffered mechanical issues … And (she) has potentially walked away from her vehicle,” Securo said.
Wilga’s van was “self-sufficient”, she said.
“She has got solar panels. She has got water in the vehicle. It’s just the vehicle itself is mechanically unable to be used.”
The temperature in Dalwallinu, near Beacon, dropped to 2.6C overnight, after an equally chilly night before.
It is not believed Wilga was the victim of foul play or met with any other person.
“It’s certainly unexplained, her disappearance, and we are taking it very seriously,” Detective Senior Sergeant Katharine Venn said on Thursday.
“Her family are understandably distraught, very worried, as any of us would be with a young family member the other side of the world, missing in such unusual circumstances.”
Det Snr Sgt Venn described the region as “very remote”.
“The actual town site is very small and when you travel out there are some very picturesque spots and some quite inhospitable, rocky terrain,” she said.
Wilga has a slim build, with frizzy or curly long, dark blonde hair and brown eyes, with several tattoos, including symbols on her left arm.
She last had contact with friends on June 29 and had travelled through the towns of Toodyay and Dowerin, south-west of Beacon, earlier in the day.
Wilga’s mother previously pleaded for anyone with information about her daughter to contact authorities.
“Carolina is still sorely missed. If anyone has any information, please contact the police. Please keep your eyes open!!!”, Katja Will said on a WA Police Facebook post.
A Facebook page named Help Find Carolina Wilga has been set up.
Karroun Hill Nature Reserve, at more than 300,000 hectares, is the largest nature reserve in the southwest of WA.
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