Backpacker lost in Australian rainforest found after three-day search

A British backpacker feared lost and badly injured in the Australian rainforest was found safe and well last night after apparently wandering in circles for four days.

Louise Saunders, 19, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, was last seen on Tuesday morning on the summit of Mt Tyson, near the town of Tully in north Queensland. She sent a text message later that day to a fellow backpacker, telling her: "I'm up the mountain and I think I'm lost."

After days of fruitless searching by rescue teams including Aboriginal trackers, fears had risen that Ms Saunders was lying injured and gradually weakening on the mountainside. But at 9.30am local time (8.30pm British time), the teenager emerged from the harsh terrain where she had been lost and walked to a public rubbish tip, where she found help.

The Foreign Office said she was taken to a local hospital where she was checked by doctors. It is understood that she emerged from her ordeal with only minor scratches.

Her mother, Liz, said that she had spoken to her daughter, a trainee beauty therapist, who was amazed at the publicity her disappearance had generated.

Mrs Saunders told Sky News: "She is gobsmacked at all the attention she has got. She said she thought she had walked about five kilometres. We think she has walked about 50km in a circle. We're just so relieved that she has been found."

The return of the teenager came just hours after police revealed that she had carved a message on to a tree.

Inspector Paul Taylor of Queensland Police said the message on the tree contained Ms Saunders' name and that of another person. He declined to give further details, but said: "We believed Louise left the writing on a tree on the track. The carvings are deep and very legible, and we don't believe they are the writing of a person in any sort of desperation."

Ms Saunders, who was travelling in Australia during a gap year, had told her fellow backpacker Joanne Woodward, a friend from England, that she would be back in Tully by Tuesday afternoon. When she failed to appear, Ms Woodward contacted police.

Officers were also analysing several items found on the mountain, including a discarded banana skin, to ascertain whether they were hers.

As Ms Saunders' family in England waited anxiously for news, Aboriginal trackers joined the search by more than 50 police officers and emergency workers. They were helped by two army helicopters using heat-seeking equipment to scan the thick tropical forest that carpets the mountain, part of a 2,300ft range.

Ms Saunders was wearing shorts, a T-shirt and trainers when she set off. Short-sighted, she apparently left without her glasses, and had only a small amount of food and water.