Canada: 16-year-old missing hiker found back after 54 hours

Golden Ears Provincial Park
Canada: 16-year-old missing hiker found back alone after 54 hours thanks to digital camera

A 16-year-old woman went missing while hiking in western Canada last week. After helpers had been looking for the youth for more than two days in vain, she finally reappeared on her own – thanks in part to her digital camera.

A 16-year-old girl disappeared last week while hiking in British Columbia’s Golden Ears Provincial Park. Even after two days, she could not be found, despite search parties; concern for the youth grew. Then, on Thursday, 54 hours later, she reappeared from the forest on her own, having found the trail she had previously disappeared on. At the weekend, she spoke for the first time about her experience in a letter that her family sent to “CBS News”.

According to Canadian media reports, 16-year-old Esther Wang and her cadet group set off on a two-day hiking tour in Golden Ears Provincial Park with two other teenagers and an adult last Tuesday. How exactly Wang had lost her group on Tuesday afternoon was initially unclear. Canadian media reported that the three other cadets noticed Wang’s disappearance 15 minutes after exiting a lookout point. The adult group leader then returned to the vantage point, but was unable to find her and then immediately raised an alarm.

Canada: Photos on digital camera help 16-year-old find his way again

Wang describes the situation as follows: She was so focused on where she was stepping that she didn’t realize at first that the rest of the group was no longer in front of her. When she turned back, she fell. “I tried to stay as calm as possible,” Wang said in the letter. During the two days she was alone in Golden Ears Provincial Park, she was disoriented. Several times she noticed the search parties with lights, dog barks or helicopters overhead, but did not manage to attract their attention. According to the police, 16 teams totaling more than 40 people were deployed in the search for Wang.

The girl first had to spend the night on a rock, the second night she tried to protect herself from the cold under a tree. Due to the two-day planned trip, the 16-year-old had enough food with her, but the battery of her cell phone ran out first, then she lost her cell phone completely. Despite these setbacks, she tried not to give up hope. Finally, on Thursday morning, she remembered taking photos of her surroundings with her digital camera at the start of the trip. These then helped her to orientate herself better. Late in the evening, when she decided to follow a river, she came to a parking lot where her parents were waiting for the search parties. “She ran into her parents’ arms,” ​​said a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer.

Apart from a few scratches and wounds on his arms and legs, Wang suffered no major injuries. “I’m overwhelmed by all the support and care from everyone,” the 16-year-old continued in her letter. She is eternally grateful to everyone involved in the search. During her two involuntary days in Golden Ears Provincial Park, her years of outdoor experience, which she also gained through cadet training, helped her, she says. Through her faith and willpower, she also managed to keep her hope. Now she has to recover from the mental and physical trauma.

Sources: CBC News I,CBC News II, CNN, BBC