00:00Missing backpacker Carolina Wilger was located safe and well yesterday evening after an extensive
00:09search. At about 4.15pm yesterday, 11 July 2025, police were advised Carolina had been located
00:20after flagging down a passing car within the Wheatbelt area. Carolina was approximately
00:2824km west of where her vehicle was abandoned. Carolina presented as exhausted, dehydrated
00:38and hungry. She had minor injuries such as cuts and bruises. Carolina was flown back to
00:46Perth at about 5.30pm where she is receiving further medical assistance. This is the best
00:53result we could have hoped for. There is a lot of effort that goes into a search of this
00:59size. The resources deployed and the community support was significant. So to find Carolina
01:06safe and well is a fantastic result. We would like to thank everyone who came forward with
01:13information. We would especially like to thank the person who located Carolina and conveyed
01:20her safely to police. I would also like to thank the media for their support in making
01:26our community aware there was a young woman in need of assistance. We are incredibly grateful
01:33that she has been found safe and obviously this is a huge relief for her family and all
01:39of her loved ones. We never gave up hope that Carolina would be found safe and well and this
01:46is truly the best outcome and best result we could have wished for. The support of our Western
01:52Australian community is our greatest asset, particularly in a state as vast as ours. The incredible result
02:00just reinforces how wonderful the WA community is. Carolina is back in contact with her loved ones
02:08and provides her thanks for the combined efforts of the West Australian Police Force and the West
02:16community. Thank you.
02:18I have a question. I'm just curious why the OIC of the Homicide Squad is holding this press conference?
02:25Yes, so I come under the Major Crime Division. So the Major Crime Division has had ownership
02:32of this search from the start. We have a significant amount of resources and investigative structure that we
02:40can put over an incident like this. There is no suggestion of criminal behaviour or anything like
02:47that. It's purely a resourcing purpose. 24 kilometres west of her van, are there any indications she knew
02:55what she was doing for 24 kilometres or was it sheer luck that she managed to find the closest road?
02:59Look, it's sheer luck. The area out there, there's mixed terrain. She's had a good night's sleep,
03:06she's had a shower. We've got her some food, which was a massive relief for her. So she's just taken
03:14it one day at a time at the moment. How did she survive? Do you have any indication how long she
03:19stayed at the car or how many days she left the car for? Yep, so our information so far is she spent
03:26one day with the car after it became bogged and then she moved on from there. So she was essentially out
03:34in the wilderness for about 11 nights, which is significant and just brings us back to how lucky
03:43she was that she was located safe and well and how thankful we are that we managed to find her.
03:48Did she set off in a direction where she thought there might be a road or someone to help or she just
03:52basically picked one way and went? From speaking to her this morning, she basically looked at the direction of the sun and
03:58tried to head west, thinking that that would be her best bet of coming across someone or a road.
04:05And the woman, I believe it was the woman that eventually found her, was she involved in the
04:08search or she just happened to be driving by at the right time? I was just a member of the community,
04:13just happened to be driving by at the right time. So we're extremely thankful for her stopping and
04:18giving Carolina the assistance. What was her reaction? Are you aware of what her reaction was when she found
04:24Caroline? Look, I haven't spoken to her directly, but my understanding is she was quite overwhelmed
04:32herself. You know, it's not often that you drive in such a remote area and you come across
04:36a situation like that. Did she know she knew Carolina was missing? The majority of the wheat
04:42belt community knew, yeah, that she was missing. Do you know where Carolina was headed before her car
04:48got fogged? Look, she had some open travel plans just to explore parts of Western Australia and then
04:56further head north and towards the east coast. So she was fairly open in that. And how much food and
05:02water did she have packed for herself? Yeah, so she had minimal food and minimal water. So yeah, from
05:10speaking to her, she has said, you know, I could have planned better. And you know, we always come
05:16back to if people are in this area, planning is essential. So to make sure you've got enough food,
05:24enough water, know where you're going, know the road conditions and the weather conditions.
05:29Do you know when she ran out? I can't say that, no.
05:33How was she this morning when you spoke to her, what was the sort of Camina, sort of where was the
05:38hurt space at the moment? Yeah, look, she is still in disbelief that she was able to survive.
05:45In her mind, she had convinced herself that she was not going to be located. I mean, you know,
05:5111 days out there is significant. So I'm sure she got to a point where she thought no one's coming.
05:58So yeah, look, she's coming to terms with what's happened. And we're just giving her that emotional
06:04support that she needs. What's next for her in terms of family? Are they arriving soon?
06:10So she's in frequent communication with her family, as we also are. There's no plans at this
06:17stage for her family to travel to Australia. However, it's still early days. So we'll let
06:23her make those travel plans and we'll give her whatever assistance she needs to facilitate that.
06:28Did you get to make that call to the family? One of my staff did.
06:31And how did that go? Oh, they were extremely relieved and thankful. Again, they were in disbelief
06:38that a community can come together and just throw every resource at locating their daughter.
06:45Can she explain to you about why she chose to leave the car after just one day?
06:49Yeah. Just panic. Thinking, well, you know, no one's going to find me here. My best bet is to start
06:57walking. Hopefully I would come across someone or a vehicle and get some help.
07:02And how harsh were the conditions out there? I think it's similar. At least she slept in a cave
07:08at one point. Was it dipping down in pretty cool temperatures?
07:10Oh yeah. It was pretty cold out there. It rained quite heavily for a couple of days. And she was
07:18exposed to the elements. We're lucky it wasn't too hot out there. But still, it's quite rough terrain.
07:27In your experience, obviously, you've dealt with a lot of not so positive outcomes. I mean, how does it,
07:33how does this compare to your other? Yeah, this is a fantastic result. We, these are the outcomes,
07:42you know, we work for. We are very happy with how the community comes together. It just shows the
07:50support that we have for one another, especially in regional WA. It's such a close-knit community.
07:56And, you know, we can just rely on each other to get the job done.
07:59I believe there was a friend that was supposed to travel with her. If that friend did, would that
08:05have increased her chances of being located even better? And on top of that, I think that friend
08:10also contacted police. How big of a role did that play? We don't have information to suggest
08:16she was travelling with another person. So we have certainly spoken to her friends and associates
08:22about her planned travel movements. But yeah, she was not travelling with anyone else.
08:27Do you expect her to come out of hospital today? And if so, is that the end of the
08:31police involvement in Caroline's case? No, I don't expect her to come out of hospital
08:36today. So she still needs some emotional support around her, and she still needs some of the
08:43injuries tended to. So once the hospital determines that she's ready, we will work closely with them
08:50and just facilitate next steps. And do you know the nature of her treatment? Is she just
08:55on an IV, or is she just there for the minor injuries? I can't go into her hospital treatment,
09:02sorry. What was her response to finding out the, I suppose, just how, you know, this is a country-wide
09:08story now, to find out that she was kind of the centre of a statewide search as well? Yeah,
09:14Yeah, look, she's very overwhelmed. So it's not something that she thought she would become
09:20involved in. So I think she's just grateful that she's survived and coming to terms with that.
09:27I know it's still early days, and she's focusing on her recovery, but has she indicated that she
09:32would like to stay in Australia? I know she wants to work in Australia in the future.
09:36So Caroline has, Caroline has told me that she loves Australia. She still has so much travel to do
09:43here. She hasn't made it over to the East Coast yet, so that's still on her bucket list. So I think
09:49if she has the ability to stay, she definitely will. One of the questions that's emerged in the
09:56wake of this is, perhaps travellers relying over much on Google Maps or technology to find their way
10:02through remote places. Clearly there's an issue there. Is that something you would like to comment on?
10:07So I can comment on the Western Australian outback. So, you know,
10:14West Australians who reside here know that it is a large countryside. It's made up of different terrains.
10:22It can be quite challenging to survive in those areas if you don't know where you're going or what
10:29you are doing. So all we can advise people to do is invest in things like personal locator beacons,
10:38where you may be able to raise emergency services if you come into trouble. You know, share your travel
10:45plans with your loved ones, plan your destinations, and then make contact with those persons when you arrive.
10:50And obviously the advice is always to stay with your car. Her plan of following the sun,
10:57you said she was just heading west of the sun, you know, in one direction. Did that increase
11:01her chances? I mean, she eventually found a road. Look, I can't comment on that. Each person is
11:06different as to their, you know, skill level of surviving in the bush. But I always come back to
11:13your best off remaining with your car. It's far easier for an aerial search to locate a vehicle
11:20than it is a person. Was there any touch for a signal out there? I can't comment on the signal.
11:28Signals vary throughout that area. And just realistically, like she's been out there for 12,
11:34today would have been a 13 day of searching. Realistically, how long would she have had left?
11:39That also I can't comment on. Sorry. She didn't actually crash the car, did she? She just,
11:45it just became bogged? It appears that she's somewhat lost control of the vehicle and then
11:52it's become mechanically unsound and bogged. So we are still working through understanding what went
11:59wrong with the vehicle. Is that what she was doing up on top of the rocks while she went up there at all?
12:04So my understanding is that Carolina became lost and disorientated and was just looking for
12:11the nearest track.
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